Piranha (1978) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_385" align="alignright" width="353"] Official Score = 2 Devils[/caption]

You know one of my favorite horror movies when I was a child was the movie, Jaws (1975)... Besides the fact that the movie itself was really exciting, I saw it at a young enough age, where the movie was still really terrifying, and when my family used to go to the beach like the day after... Boy was it exhilarating!

Let's be honest here folks, when you are still young enough, and impressionable enough to be seeing this kind of movie, the first thing you as a kid are going to believe when going in to the ocean, is that, 'Jaws' is going to get you... And heading in anyway, and facing your fear, is like a pulse pounding edge of your seat experience that you will never forget!

Well obviously, 'Jaws' never got me, and when I went to Universal Studios and saw the, 'Jaws' attraction, that fear and heart pounding exhilaration pretty much quickly turned in to just a life long enjoyment of the ocean and all it represents!

Now you might be wondering why I mention this... Well the reason that I mention this, is because as I grew up, so did my love of under water monster movies, and recently I had the chance to see the Joe Dante (Innerspace) B Movie classic, Piranha (1978) for the first time!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="150"] A true classic![/caption]

Written by: Richard Robinson (Kingdom Of The Spiders), John Sayles (The Spiderwick Chronicles) & Directed by: Joe Dante. Starring: Bradford Dillman (Sudden Impact), Heather Menzies-Urich (Ssssss), Kevin McCarthy (UHF), Keenan Wynn (Once Upon A Time In The West), Dick Miller (The Terminator), Barbara Steele (Pit And The Pendulum), Belinda Balaski (The Vampire Hunters Club), Melody Thomas Scott (The Shootist), Bruce Gordon (Tower Of London), Paul Bartel (Escape From L.A.) & Janie Squire (The Great American Girl Robbery).

There is something rotten about to happen in the Lost River area... You see, it all starts when a couple who happens to be hiking through that area and camping, end up coming upon an old Army base that basically looks deserted, and the two of them end up deciding to take the last swim of their lives!

When the hikers end up going missing, 'Maggie Mckeown' (Heather Menzies-Urich) is hired to try and find them... Well, her first stop in the area is to pick up her guide... a surly pain in the ass by the name of, 'Paul Grogan' (Bradford Dillman)...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Maggie and Paul as they begin their investigation in earnest![/caption]

Well the next stop they go to is the old Army base, and when they get there they begin looking for any sign of the missing hikers... At one point Maggie goes as far as deciding to take on her own initiative to empty out the little pool out in the courtyard area... This is when the two of them are stopped by Dr. Robert Hoak  (Kevin McCarthy).

Well they knock him out before Dr. Hoak has a chance to tell them that they just let loose a whole ton of genetically altered, 'Piranha' in to the river... And that these Piranha are about to head in to an area that is about to become heavily populated!

Well after Hoak destroys their only means of traveling on land to get to the right people to stop this mistake from becoming deadly, it will be up to Maggie, Paul & Doctor Hoak to travel the same river that the Piranha are now in, and get ahead of them, so that they can coordinate with the authorities to stop the Piranha, before the Piranha can destroy the grand opening of a recently made lake (this lake is what the river with the Piranha flow in to, and to ensure that the mountain of swimmers that are about to arrive, are not food for the Piranha!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="610"] A snack![/caption]

In the end, this movie had all the great elements of a Roger Corman (Death Race 2000) a great cast of almost unknown talent, some groovey special effects that are still great even though they aren't CGI and a story that is completely fun, and the vision of a great director! The main problem that I had with this movie, is that like Roger Corman movies, it has some build up time... The problem is, is that unlike most of his other movies... There is to much build up time and after awhile it becomes a little distracting!

In the end, this movie is a fun one, and if you are a horror fiend like me, then there is a scene in this movie that you really shouldn't miss... Anyway check this one out, you might like it!

http://youtu.be/XoCKGvVlNYM

Pit And The Pendulum (1961) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_557" align="alignright" width="307"] Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Before I became a fan of both the Horror and Science Fiction genres my father was the huge fan of both Horror and Science Fiction movies (and to some degree, books.)

As a matter of fact I would have to contribute my love of horror movies and Science Fiction movies to my father, and the times that we would watch horror movies and Science Fiction movies together (such films as the Alien movies series, some of the, 'A Nighbtmare On Elm Street' movies, etc...)

Anyway a couple of the scary stories that he told both me and my sister was the story of, 'The Crawiling Eye' and, 'The Pit And The Pendulum'.

Now the first time I heard these stories, I thought that they were just stories, (The Pit And The Pendulum as it turns out really was a story that had been written by Edgar Allan Poe, and had been turned in to a movie by American International Pictures), but the rest of these stories that my dad had told us actually had been movies that my Dad had seen when he was a kid!

And now that I have had a chance to see, Pit And The Pendulum (1961), I can understand why my Dad liked it so much!

Written by: Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and Directed by: Roger Corman (Death Race 2000). Starring: Vincent Price (Madhouse), John Kerr (South Pacific), Luana Anders (Dementia 13), Anthony Carbone (A Bucket Of Blood), and Barbara Steele (Black Sunday).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Nicholas Medina (Vincent Price) with Frances Barnard (John Kerr) as Nicholas is about to play a deadly game with his house guest![/caption]

During the, 'Inquisition' people were being tortured as a regular practice, Pit And The Pendulum tells the tale of a post, 'Inquisition' family by the name of, 'Medina', (a family who's father, 'Sebastian' (Played by Vincent Price), used to torture people as a regular practice!)

Now this family has started getting past their horrible past, Sebastian's daughter, Donia Catherine (Anders) is living with her love in Barcelona, and Sebastian's son Nicholas has taken over the family home, and married an English noblewoman by the name of Elizabeth Barnard (Steele).

Now for the longest time, Nicholas and his wife are living a very happy and contented life as husband and wife, but when Elizabeth discovers the tragic past of her new family, she ends up killing herself in one of Sebastian's torture devices!

After her death though, various people start hearing Elizabeth's voice, hearing her play the harpsichord, etc, this happens to be slowly driving Nicholas insane (A role that Vincent Price played excellently!)

Anyway, after Doctor Charles Leon (Carbone), and Elizabeth's brother, 'Francis' shows up to investigate the death of his sister, these strange encounters start getting stronger and stronger and driving Nicholas worse and worse!

As these encounters start getting worse and worse, people begin to wonder if Nicholas has already lost his mind, or perhaps, has Elzabeth become one of the many ghosts that are sure to be haunting these tortured halls!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Don Nicholas (Vincent Price), with his wife Donia Elizabeth (Barbara Steele) in, 'Pit And The Pendulum' (1961)![/caption]

Now I have to say that everyone did a great job in this movie, but the truth is, is that besides the story, the best thing about this movie is Vincent Price!

I mean Vincent Price plays the role of, 'crazy' and, 'going crazy', perfectly! So much so that in my opinion, there is no one who has played these types of roles as well as Vincent Price did since!

So if your looking for a fun classic horror movie to really sink your teeth in to, then check t this one out as it is a fun one!

http://youtu.be/8xzdrffJ91E

The Crimson Cult (1968) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_325" align="alignright" width="263"] Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]

Unfortunately it is tragic that the mainstream movie studios generally (not always, but generally) tend to over look the extremely talented men and women who have made their way in the world thanks to the wonderful world of horror movies!

Like I mentioned though, that is not always the case… And is most certainly not the case with actor Christopher Lee (Dracula Has Risen From The Grave)!

Christopher Lee… I mean what can I say about this man that hasn't already been said? Whether he is a fallen Jedi (as is his role as Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequel movies,) or as the fallen wizard in the, ‘Lord Of The Rings’ movies, Christopher Lee has always brought that deep voice, and an old school professionalism that he brought to the craft that hasn't really been seen since the trailblazers of horror, (like Vincent Price (Theatre Of Blood), Bela Lugosi (Dracula), and Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) were around!

And speaking of Boris Karloff…

One of types of movies that I have found out recently that I have really enjoyed is those old school horror movies that have one or more horror movie legends starring in them, (such as is the case with Christopher Lee and Boris Karloff in, The Crimson Cult (1968)).

Written by: Mervyn Haisman (Doctor Who), Henry Lincoln (The Saint) and Directed by: Vernon Sewell (Ghost Ship). Starring Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, Mark Eden (Séance On A Wet Afternoon), Barbara Steele (The Pit And The Pendulum), Michael Gough (Batman) and Virginia Wetherell (Bram Stoker’s Dracula).

The Crimson Cult tells the story of how an antique dealer by the name of Robert Manning (Eden) gets a strange message from his brother (who happens to be on an antique buying venture in a small country village by the name of, Graymarsh.) Now Graymarsh does have some significance to Robert as it turns out that Graymarsh is Robert and his brother’s home town!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="474"] Robert Manning (Mark Eden) and Eve (Virginia Wetherell) in, 'The Crimson Cult' (1968)[/caption]

So Robert heads to his home town, a town where most of the townspeople seem to be partying as they prepare to celebrate the day when the townsfolk centuries before hand, had burned a witch by the name of Lavina Morley (Steele) at the stake!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360"] Lavinia Morley (Barbara Steele) as she is working on one of her demonic spells![/caption]

But one of Lavina’s descendants, by the name of, J.D. Morley (Lee) has another date that he is using to worship his fallen ancestor, and this actually involves Robert!

So as Robert begins his investigation in to his brother’s disappearance in earnest, Robert Manning will find out a secret about his family and the connections to the Morley family that Robert never would have expected!

Now besides that fact that it is pretty awesome that actor, ‘Michael Gough’ would go on to play, ‘Alfred’ in pretty much all of the Batman movies, (from Michael Keaton’s time as Batman, all the way through to the time George Clooney played the role of the caped crusader), I also have to admit that it is pretty awesome to see what I believe to be the inspiration for the movie, ‘The Wicker Man’ (1973) in this movie as well!

As a side note, this was Boris Karloff's last movie...

Anyway folks, if your looking for a fun one to enjoy, you might try this one, it is a good one!

http://youtu.be/r6PI13Tus8U