HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1959) Blu-ray Review

House on Haunted Hill (1959) d. William Castle (USA) (75 min)

This classic fright-fest frivolity from producer/director Castle stars Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren, offering $10,000 to five diverse guests if they can spend the entire night in the titular haunted house; thrills and chills ensue.

Castle has never been more adept at creating straight-faced spooky atmosphere, and Robb White’s snaky screenplay provides characters and mystery adequate to hold our attention through the film’s zippy running time. Doors creak open and slam shut, decapitated heads appear and disappear, and vats of acid bubble deliciously in the cellar, with a wonderfully cheesy skeleton topping off the delightful buffet.

THE RING COLLECTION (2002 - 2017) Blu-ray review

THE RING (2002) d. Gore Verbinski (USA)
THE RING TWO (2005) d. Hideo Nakata (USA)
RINGS (2017) d. F. Javier Gutiérrez

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Welcome to Episode 13 of THE STACK!!

Tonight we dive deep into the film that essentially launched the worldwide J-horror boom... by making us aware of the original that inspired it in the first place! Ringu (1998) was on nobody's radar outside of its home country and some lucky festival goers until Hollywood caught wind of it and cranked out a supercharged remake that made tons of money and had all eyes looking to the east for the next big scare (and the next big thing that could be ripped off).

THE FLY (1958) / RETURN OF THE FLY (1959) / CURSE OF THE FLY (1965) Round Table!!

Celebrating a classic sci-fi/horror trilogy: THE FLY (1958), RETURN OF THE FLY (1959), and CURSE OF THE FLY (1965)!

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Veteran director Kurt Neumann mostly toiled in mid-tier melodramas, Westerns and Tarzan movies throughout his long career, but had already made a few notable entries in the realm of science fiction cinema with Rocketship X-M (1950) and Kronos (1957). Released two months before his death in August 1958, THE FLY has endured for 65 years as true classic, not losing any of its power to shock and surprise.

CAT PEOPLE (1982) Blu-ray/UHD review

Cat People (1982) d. Paul Schrader (USA) (118 min)

After years in orphanages, Irena (Nastassja Kinski) reunites with long-lost sibling Paul (Malcolm McDowell), who soon reveals a more-than-brotherly attraction to her. Seems the two are the supernatural offspring of panthers, doomed to mate only with their own humanimal kind, as any other coupling results in fanged-and-clawed death for their unsuspecting partner. Needless to say, this throws a wrench into zookeeper Oliver's (John Heard) romantic designs on the exotic female newcomer.

RELIC (2020) Blu-ray Review

Relic (2020) d. Natalie Erika James (Australia/USA) (89 min)

When Kay (Emily Mortimer) receives word that her aging mother Edna (Robyn Nevin) has not been seen for several days, she reluctantly extracts herself from her manic work-obsessed lifestyle and heads out to the countryside with recently dropped out of college daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) to investigate. Upon arrival, they find a few things amiss (Post-it notes adorning the walls, chairs facing windows, food bowls set out for pets long gone) and no sign of Edna… at first. Our missing matriarch magically reappears one morning, behaving as though nothing has happened and dismissing her absence (and slight bruising on her chest) as nothing of consequence. Despite their casual estrangement, both Kay and Sam recognize that something is different and, as the days pass, they are witness to numerous troubling episodes that beg the question: are these are simply classic symptoms of dementia or is there something more sinister and supernatural at work?

THE SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) Blu-ray Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 22
Total First Time Views: 13
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $1,657.04

The Shadow of the Cat (1961) d. John Gilling (UK) (79 min) (1st viewing)

Wealthy Ella Venable (Catherine Lacey) is brutally murdered by her manservant Andrew (Andrew Crawford) at the behest of her cold-blooded husband Walter (Andre Morell) and the two, along with long-suffering housekeeper Clara, conspire to bury the corpse in the forest; at the same time, they produce a brand-new will and testament that conveniently leaves Ella’s fortune to Walter. So far so good, as far as murders go. However, the one spanner in the works is that Ella’s beloved feline, Tabitha, has witnessed everything and is seemingly intent on driving the trio insane and/or into their own shallow graves. The battle lines are now drawn, with innocent (and disinherited) daughter Beth (Barbara Shelley) caught in the middle of a full-on war of wills where humans tumble down stairs, drown in quicksand, suffer heart attacks, or fall from parapets while cats purr with demonic delight.

JACK'S BACK (1988) Blu-ray Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 12
Total First Time Views: 6
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $831.84

Jack’s Back (1988) d. Rowdy Herrington (USA) (97 min) (2nd viewing)

In 1888, a homicidal maniac known as Jack the Ripper was responsible for the murder of anywhere from five to 14 murders in the Whitechapel and surrounding areas of London. A century later, a copycat is echoing the Ripper’s modus operandi down to the finest details throughout the red light districts of Los Angeles, leaving a trail of bodies and nary a clue. When a med school student, John Westford (James Spader), stumbles across the latest crime scene in progress, he finds himself the killer’s next target, arousing the interest of twin brother Rick (also Spader) who discovers that he might know the murderer’s identity through an unexplained psychic link. Unfortunately, Rick also finds himself to be the LAPD's number one suspect, and only with the aid of John’s fellow classmate Chris (Cynthia Gibb) might he be able to find the Reborn Ripper and clear his name.

GHOST SHIP (2002) Blu-ray Review

SCARE-A-THON Totals to Date:

Total Movies Watched: 9
Total First Time Views: 5
Amount raised for BOXVILLE: $601.38

Ghost Ship (2002) d. Steve Beck (USA) (93 min) (3rd viewing)

In 1962, a young girl (Emily Browning, six years from playing Babydoll in SuckerPunch) witnesses a horrific accident on board the luxury ocean liner Antonia Graza that leaves its entire crew and passenger list on the R.I.P. list. The action then flashes forward a few decades to Captain Murphy’s (Gabriel Byrne) salvage crew being enticed by Canadian weather spotter Ferriman (Desmond Harrington) into tracking down the floating tombstone, with the promise of a big payday in gold bullion waiting within its deserted hull. Of course, being that this is a haunted house movie on the briny waves, as soon as they arrive at their destination, all manner of bizarre and macabre imagery begins to crop up, much of it ultimately lethal to their existence.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962) Blu-ray Review

The Phantom of the Opera (1962) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (84 min)

When tragedy strikes Lord D’Arcy’s (Michael Gough) London opera house during an opening night performance, it’s soon clear that the “accident” is the work of a deranged madman – The Phantom (Herbert Lom). After Christine (Heather Sears), cast as the lead in this new version of Saint Joan, is contacted by the shadowy specter, her producer/lover (Edward De Souza) investigates, tracking the ghostly Phantom to his secret underground lair. Disfigured and nearly destroyed, the former composer and musician now demands hellish revenge on those who have wronged him, with Christine, the sole glimmer of light in his dark, violent life.

JUNGLE CAPTIVE (1945) Blu-ray Review

Jungle Captive (1945) d. Harold Young (USA) (63 min)

This second sequel to Captive Wild Woman is notable primarily for (Caucasian) Vicky Lane replacing Acquanetta as Paula Dupree and for the presence of Universal’s “Monster without Makeup” Rondo Hatton, cracking necks like nobody’s business as “Moloch the Brute,” in his second showcase role following The Pearl of Death with Sherlock Holmes (1944). Seems that a certain endocrinology enthusiast, Mr. Stendahl (Otto Kruger), is a Frankenstein in the making, obsessed with reviving dead tissue, viewing the resurrection of Paula Dupree (last seen in Jungle Woman) as his Mt. Everest to climb. Recruiting Moloch to steal her corpse from the morgue and then later to kidnap his assistant Ann (Amelita Ward), Stendahl plots a synthesis of electricity and blood transfusions (and brain transplanting, just for good measure) in order to demonstrate his superior intellect to the world.

JUNGLE WOMAN (1944) Blu-ray Review

Jungle Woman (1944) d. Reginald LeBorg (USA) (61 min)

Paula Dupree (Acquanetta) is back… and killed in the first scene when she attacks Dr. Fletcher (J. Carroll Naish), who is then brought to trial for her murder (cue the flashback sequences). It seems that our glandular mishap survived her fate at the end of Captive Wild Woman and was nursed back to health by the good doctor, who had also acquired the late Dr. Walters’ sanitarium and continued in his research, thereby transforming Cheela/Paula back to her human form. In what amounts to a retread of Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People, we discover that whenever Paula is sexually aroused – as she is by Fletcher’s assistant Bob (Richard Davis), who has a thing going with his boss’ daughter Joan (Lois Collier) – she has a tendency to get a little hairier and homicidal.

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943) Blu-ray Review

Captive Wild Woman (1943) d. Edward Dmytryk (USA) (61 min)

When Cheela, a female gorilla exhibiting nearly human-like emotions, is captured and brought to the circus by famed hunter and animal trainer Fred Mason (Milburn Stone), she attracts the attention of gland specialist Dr. Walters (John Carradine) who plots to kidnap the giant beast for his own experiments. Through a combination of injections and brain surgery (compliments of his unwilling assistant, played by Fay Helm), Cheela is transformed into the beautiful Paula Dupree (Acquanetta), who subsequently develops a rather deep attraction to Mason, himself in the thick of creating a daring new circus act. Unfortunately for all, except perhaps Mason’s fiancee Beth (Evelyn Ankers), Walters’ success proves only temporary, and Paula begins devolving back to her previous primal self.

THE MONSTER AND THE GIRL (1941) Blu-ray Review

The Monster and the Girl (1941) d. Stuart Heisler (USA) (65 min)

After her brother Scot (Phillip Terry) is framed for murder, small-town girl Susan Webster (Ellen Drew) pleads with the court to show mercy, explaining her hard-luck story of being tricked into a life of prostitution by crime boss W.S. Bruhl (Paul Lukas). Unfortunately, due to some fancy talk by the District Attorney (Onslow Stevens), Scot is tossed in the clink and sentenced to death. On the eve of his execution, the hapless prisoner is visited by a mysterious Dr. Perry (George Zucco) who asks if he can have Scot’s brain for his radical experiments; frustrated and afraid, the condemned man grants permission – and wakes up with his brain inside of a gorilla! Instead of bananas, however, this particular ape now has a burning hunger for... revenge.

KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963) Blu-ray Review

Kiss of the Vampire (1963) d. Don Sharp (UK) (88 min)

When their automobile runs out of fuel on the way to their honeymoon, newlyweds Marianne (Jennifer Daniel) and Gerald Harcourt (Edward de Souza) find themselves stranded in a remote Bavarian forest. Towed by a horse-drawn wagon to the nearest village, they are invited by the hypnotic and aristocratic Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman) to attend a masked ball at his nearby castle. When Ravna reveals himself to be the leader of a dark arts-worshipping family of vampires, with an eye on Marianne as their most recent recruit, the young couple is plunged into a nightmare of horror and deception with the tortured Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans) their only potential savior.

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961) Blu-ray Review

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) d. Terence Fisher (UK) (93 min)

Set in 18th Century Spain, this (very) loose reworking of Guy Endore’s 1933 novel The Werewolf of Paris sees a ragged beggar (Richard Wordsworth) entering the disenchanted village of Santa Vera where a corrupt nobleman, the aptly named Marques Sinestro (Anthony Dawson), holds sway. In “service” for his supper, the Marques has the hapless homeless bark and crawl about like a dog before being imprisoned and forgotten by everyone except the jailer and his mute daughter (Yvonne Romain). 10 years of isolation drive the poor soul out of his mind such that, when the jailer’s daughter is thrown into his cell for refusing the lecherous Marques’ advances, he rapes her and promptly dies. Upon her release, the young victim murders the evil lord before escaping into the countryside, where she is discovered, pregnant and on the brink of death, by a kindly aristocrat, Don Alfredo (Clifford Evans). Her offspring, dubbed Leon (Oliver Reed), is raised by Don Alfredo to manhood where it is revealed that his unfortunate family tree and birth date (Christmas) have cursed him with bestial leanings whenever the moon is full and lust is on the rise….

APRIL FOOL'S DAY (1986) Blu-ray Review

April Fool’s Day (1986) d. Fred Walton (89 min)

When Muffy St. John (Deborah Foreman) invited her college friends up to her parents’ secluded island home for the time of their lives, she just forgot to tell them it just might be the LAST time of their lives. As soon as the kids arrive on the island, someone starts trimming the guest list... one murder at a time. What starts out as a weekend of harmless “April Fool’s Day” pranks turns into a bloody battle for survival.

BODY PARTS (1991) Blu-ray Review

Body Parts (1991) d. Eric Red (USA) (88 min)

Bill Chrushank (Jeff Fahey) is a criminal psychologist who loses his arm and nearly his life in a grisly car accident. Dr. Agatha Webb (Lindsay Duncan) proposes an experimental medical procedure, successfully grafting a new limb on its place. Following a strenuous period of rehabilitation, things seem to be back to normal… until Bill’s new arm starts to exhibit a will of its own, striking out against Bill’s wife Karen (Kim Delaney) and children, while Bill begins to experience horrifying dreams of murder and bloodshed. Are these symptoms all in his mind or are they linked to the limb itself, residual traces of its former owner’s troubled life?

LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971) Blu-ray Review

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) d. John D. Hancock (USA) (88 min)

Following her release from a sanitarium, emotionally sensitive Jessica (Zohra Lampert) leaves NYC with her classical musician husband Duncan (Barton Heywood) and their like-minded hippie friend Woody (Kevin O’Connor) to find peace and quiet working an apple orchard in Connecticut. But when they encounter a strange, beautiful squatter, Emily (Mariclare Costello), residing in the farmhouse, Jessica’s unstable world begins to crumble. And, like our heroine, the viewer is never quite sure what is reality or nightmare, madness or sanity….

SILVER BULLET (1985) Blu-ray Review

Silver Bullet (1985) d. Daniel Attias (USA) (95 min)

In the small rural Maine community of Tarker’s Mills, a maniacal killer is on the loose, viciously rending its victims to pieces, leaving the townsfolk terrified and the police stumped. But young Marty Coslow (Corey Haim) is convinced that a supernatural shapeshifter stalks among them, a werewolf who only shows its toothy maw every full moon. Problem is, Marty is 13, so no one believes him; worse yet, he’s stuck in a wheelchair, which leaves him vulnerable. With his only allies, sister Jane (Megan Follows) and boozy Uncle Red (Gary Busey), Marty sets out to devise a means of stopping the beast before it homes in on the one person who knows its true identity....

MAN MADE MONSTER (1941) Blu-ray Review

Man Made Monster (1941) d. George Waggner (USA) (59 min)

When Dan McCormick (Lon Chaney Jr.) emerges as the lone survivor after a bus careens into an electrical pylon, Dr. John Lawrence (Samuel S. Hinds) is puzzled until he learns that McCormick is Dynamo Dan,” a carnival performer who regularly runs voltage through his body. The doctor theorizes that Dan might have actually built up an immunity to electricity and suggests that Dan stay with him at his house/laboratory so that further tests can be performed. Dan acquiesces, but Lawrence’s overzealous assistant, Dr. Rigas (Lionel Atwill), secretly bombards him with maximum doses of electricity hoping to create a race of superhuman atomic warriors. Dan grows more and more listless, increasingly dependent on the treatments and subject to Rigas’ will, even murdering Lawrence when the senior doctor threatens to expose the misguided experiments. In a bizarre twist of fate, when the wheels of justice attempt to execute Dan in the electric chair, they unwittingly create an unstoppable weapon capable of mass destruction!