Getting To See A Classic Horror Movie With Fresh Eyes

By the way... If you thought that I meant, 'fresh eyes' in the literally sense... Well you are kind of right... Just not in the disgusting way!

No... What I mean is this... One of the things that I really like to do, and is sort of a tradition that I have had since I was a teenager is to get a whole bunch of really great junk food and then watch a whole bunch of great horror films... And you know what, if you haven't tried it yet... If you like horror movies, I would recommend giving it a try... It is freaking awesome!

Watching horror movies on Halloween can be a real killer experience!

This Halloween though was one with a little bit of a twist! You see, my wife and I got to enjoy my Halloween tradition together this year... But in years previous we have ended up watching other genres of films... Fun, but it really needs to be with horror movies... you know?

Well this year when we were arranging it, my wife was all in for watching some fun horror  movies... And you know what? It was a total blast!

Now you might be wondering why I am sharing this little bit of personal information... Well the reason being is that we got to watch some awesome classics that I hadn't seen in years!

You see, for me, because I review movies all the time, and there are so many out there to review, I generally don't get much of an opportunity to re-watch classics that I have loved for quite a few years, and when I got to watch, Halloween (1978) and, The Omen (1976)... I got to say, it brought me back to the days of when I first watched both of these movies for the first time... Boy was it awesome!

Watching these movies for the first time in years was a total blast! 

And the reason that I mention all of this to you horror fans, is because where as it is true that even today that there is a lot of amazing horror movies that are coming out... I have noticed a trend with a lot of the younger generation of well (not just horror movie fans, but movie fans in general,) that they generally seem to tend to ignore the classics and stick exclusively to the newer films!

And well, I will say that  there are  some great reasons for going with newer movies, don't forget to check out the classics, they can scare the hell out of you just as well as the new ones, and in my opinion are just as good, and in most cases better then the newer movies out there!

So did I check out some classics with fresh eyes? Sure... For the newer generation, give it a try... I think you will find there is some truly amazing horror movies out there that have come out in the last hundred years that are just as good, if not better then some of  the horror movies that have come in the last 14 years!

Carrie (2013) - Movie Reivew

Official Score = 3 1/2 Devils 

Alright, so a lot of people would say (myself included), that remakes of horror movies generally tend to suck right? I mean the story seems to stay the same, it is just poorly written, or the actors chosen for the remake are not as good, or the director has destroyed the remake with to much gore... That is true that there are a fair number like that out there... But there is more to it then that!

You see, remakes... As more and more of them are being made have become very varied... Some of the bad ones, I have personally found would make a great stand alone movies, and there are some that are fun, but still don't compare to the original... And believe it or not there is one that I am going to say is even better then the original... Trust me... Almost unheard of, but true...

A great film!

Carrie (2013), I am going to say was almost as good as the original... But we will get in to that in a minute.

"Why not? I've been hurt my whole life."

- Chloe Grace Moretz (A quote from her role as: 'Carrie White' in, Carrie (2013))

Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz (Dark Shadows), Julianne Moore (Hannibal), Gabriella Wilde (Squatters), Portia Doubleday (Youth In Revolt), Judy Greer (Archer), Ansel Elgort (Divergent) & Alex Russell (The Host).

Now I know that this is a tall order to say, but it is true! This movie is almost as good as the original... And I will tell you why...

The new, 'Carrie' and her new mother, as Carrie gets ready for a night no one will ever forget... No matter how hard they try!

1. Lets first talk about the talent... In most remakes there is at least one, if not more then one no-talent actor that is thrown in there... Not only was I impressed with the talent, but I am going to say that one of the main things that really made this movie for me, is that not only did Chloe Grace Moretz do a great job in the role, but she brought a bit of originality to the role that just blew me away... (I would say almost as brilliant as Sissy Spacek in creating the role for herself!)

2. The story... Now a lot of time these movies are butchered when a writer takes the story and switches it in what is clearly the wrong way... In this sense I am going to have to say that the writers of this movie did an absolutely amazing job of staying true to Stephen King's original novel, while making it separate from the original movie!

Now for those of you who don't know what the movie is about, this movie tells the story of a High School girl who has been tormented by almost everyone her entire life, whose mother is a total nut case... But when she is tricked by all the girls in her School, one of them feels bad about what they did and convinces her to go to prom... And well it is a prom no one will ever forget... No matter how hard they try!

Now Prom can really begin!

Basically to sum it all up, the best thing about this movie, is that the cast and the crew did an amazing job of remaking a classic, yet making it there own while staying true to the vision that made both the book and the original movie so great!

Halloween III: Season Of The Witch (1982) - Movie Review

Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils

You know I will be honest and say that, Halloween (1978) is my favorite movie of all time, I mean this movie is just fun, it has everything that a classic slasher movie has in it! Great victims, a heroin that you really rooted for in the end, and a great villain, (Michael Myers,) that just makes that movie series just a truly awesome and memorable one!

Now since I have been reviewing movies on Hellinspace.com one of the things that I thought that I would do is to review one of the Halloween movies every year around Halloween, and over the last couple of years I have done, Halloween, and, Halloween 2 (1981), and now I thought that I would do Halloween 3: Season Of The Witch (1982)!

An unfortunately misunderstood movie!

I will be honest with you guys here, and say that this movie may not be the best movie of the series, and for obvious reasons (primarily the fact that it is the only Halloween movie that doesn't have Michael Myers in it,) and where as I think the idea behind taking Michael Myers and making the series an anthology series that have a different story each time would have been inspired had fans not grown to love having Michel there, but never the less, I didn't think this movie was as bad as every one is making it out to be!

I mean it had a great cast that included: Tom Atkins (The Fog), Stacey Nelkin (Going Ape), Dan O'Herlihy (RoboCop), Nancy Loomis (Assault On Precint 13) and that is just to name a few!

Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) & Ellie Grimbridge (Stacey Nelkin) as they check out the deadly masks!

This movie also brought John Carpenter (The Ward) & Tommy Lee Wallace (Fright Night Part 2) back to the world of, 'Halloween'!

And the story... I have to admit that the story of how a crazed Toymaker/Halloween mask maker uses Stonehenge, and Halloween to play the cruelest trick of them all on the rest of the world... (Killing off the worlds children on Halloween through the masks they wear,) and the fact that a Doctor and the daughter of one of the Mask Maker's distributors are the only ones that can stop them was truly inventive!

Stay tuned to that dial kiddies... For your final message from, 'Silver Shammrock'!

I mean my main problems were 2 fold, 1: I thought the Androids were a little odd, and 2: I thought about midway in to the movie it seemed liked Mr. Wallace was adding filler to get to the good stuff...

Other then that though, this movie is worth checking out at least once... Trust me, if you are a fan of the series... Well it may not be imperative... But then again... If your like me and have to see all of them, good or bad... Then you might check this one out as well!

Five Songs From The 80s & 90s That Helped Define Five GreatHorror/Sci-fi Movies

One of the things I have noticed in the new millennium which I have wondered about, is that there seems (definitely in modern horror movies, and to a strong extent with Science Fiction movies,) a noticeable absences of mainstream bands making music that one could say defines the movies in music terms!

What do I mean for this? Well of course there is always composed music, like the composed music that John Williams (Jaws) has done for a lot of the biggest Science Fiction films of all time, in this case what I mean is, music such as what Rob Zombie (Halloween) has done for his movies... And Rob Zombie has done a great with this!

In the case of Rob Zombie, he has always done some truly kick ass songs for (I can't say all, because I haven't seen all of them,) but almost all of his movies! So as a little reminder of what bands did for Horror & Science Fiction, I thought that you guys would enjoy:  Five Songs From The 80s & 90s That Helped Define Five Great Horror/Sci-fi Movies!

For number 5: The Cure: Burn (1994) from: The Crow soundtrack:

For number 4: Gerard McMann: Cry Little Sister (1987) from: The Lost Boys soundtrack:

For number 3: Rage Against The Machine: Wake Up (1999) from: The Matrix soundtrack:

For number 2: White Zombie: The One (1996) from the soundtrack for: Escape From L.A.:

For number 1: Guns 'N Roses: Sympathy For The Devil (1994): from the soundtrack for: Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles:

There are a lot more out there, but I would say that these are some of the better ones, and I hope that these remind you of some of the awesomeness that was soundtracks for horror and science fiction in the 1980s and 1990s

Children Of The Corn 3: Urban Harvest (1995) - Movie Review

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

Believe it or not the Children Of The Corn series has been an interesting odyssey… What I mean by that is that the first of this series that I saw was not the original, Children Of The Corn (1984) movie, as a matter of fact the first of these movie I saw back in the mid 90s when I was a teenager watching the old, ‘late night monster movie’ shows that was hosted by Joe Bob Briggs!

That one was, Children Of The Corn 3: Urban Harvest (1995)!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] A pretty awesome movie![/caption]

Now this movie, (which as it turns out was originally based on the short story by Stephen King), was directed by: James D.R. Hickox (Blood Surf), and stars: Daniel Cerny (Demonic Toys), Ron Melendez (Voodoo), Jim Metzler (Circuitry Man), Nancy Lee Grahn (Castle), Jon Clair (Tales From The Crypt), Mari Morrow (Virtuosity), and Michael Ensign (Ghostbusters).

Children Of The Corn 3: Urban Harvest, tells the story of Eli (Cerney) and Joshua (Melendez). Now Joshua and his father had moved to the now infamous Gatlin Nebraska (the main town for a lot of the series), after the events of the first and second movie, the property values in Gatlin were extremely discounted, and Joshua’s dad decided to move them there as he wanted some land to work on his corn experiments…

Now after they get there, they end up adopting Eli (Cerney) in to their family… And that is when everything fell apart for that family… You see, it turns out that Eli is the earthly embodiment of, ‘He Who Walks Behind The Rows’ (the evil demon that controls the children in these movies), and after a night where their father beats Joshua, Eli decides to make him another victim of, ‘He Who Walks Behind The Rows’…

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="457"] Eli decides to bring, 'He Who Walks Behind The Rows' to the big city![/caption]

After all of this goes down though, Eli and Joshua are sent to live with foster parent by the name of, William (Metzler) & Amanda (Grahn) Porter. After they get there though, Eli decides to continue his work with his master, and starts planting a new field of corn in an old abandoned factory…

Now as Eli re-establishes his connection with his master, Joshua seems to be going in the exact opposite direction, and starts connecting with his foster mother and the people around him, (their foster father seems to be more inclined to favor Eli (especially when he starts seeing dollar signs about possibly creating a new industry with Eli’s corn!)

With that in mind Eli will stop at nothing to ensure that he is able to work with his foster father to export his corn (so that he can expand the influence of, 'He Who Walks Behind The Rows' world wide) and the only one that it appears able to stop him is the brother that he had grown to love!

In the end, if you like awesome B movies then you might like this one as well (what with the awesomely campy storyline, the great cast of B actors, and I mean, ‘hey’ it is Children Of The Corn….)

http://youtu.be/8JZApwQHPa4

Children Of The Corn (1984) - Movie Review

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

The thing about Stephen King and his body of work, is that it is truly terrifying... And in a world that, these days is comprised of people who when writing horror novels, generally seem to lend themselves to, (for some bizarre reason), more young adult novels then they do to the adult world... That is no tall order!

What I mean by this is that I would liken Stephen King to the greats of the literary world, that made Horror the truly insanely awesome works of fiction that to this day inspire horror filmmakers the world over!

And what sets Stephen King apart? Well, I would say that beyond the fact that he keeps his stories chilling and scary, he also keeps the suspense alive for the most part, and as you read on, you tend to draw deeper and deeper in to the story as you begin to get hooked on the characters, and the hope that they make it out of their horrifying existence alive... At least that is how I see it.

And you know what? For the most part, Children Of The Corn (1984) was no different!

Written By: George Goldsmith (Force Five) & Directed by: Fritz Kiersch (The Stranger). Starring: Peter Horton (2 Days In The Valley), Linda Hamilton (The Terminator), R.G. Armstrong (My Name Is Nobody), John Franklin (Child's Play), Courtney Gains (Back To The Future), Robby Kiger (The Monster Squad) & Anne Marie McEvoy (Invitation To Hell).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Seeing his parent's die at the hands of religious fanatics probably was not on his agenda for the day![/caption]

You see this movie tells the story of a town in Nebraska by the name of, 'Gatlin', and how at first this town is just your average everyday small farming community... Until one day when the kids decide to turn their small farming community in to a sort of, 'Shrine' to their new god, 'He Who Walks Behind The Rows'. and slaughters all of the adults!

Anyway, years later a couple by the name of, Burt (Horton) and, 'Vicky' (Hamilton), are passing by close to where, 'Gatlin' is supposed to be, when they end up accidentally running over one of the kids and killing him! So as they make their way in to town to file a report with the authorities, they begin to notice something really off about the town... (i,e. like how there are no adults anywhere, and how the kids appear to have control over the town..)

Well it will be up to Burt and Vicky to stop what is going on, before the children and their new god end up making sure that they're stay in the small town of Gatlin is a permanent one!

[caption id="attachment_1966" align="aligncenter" width="600"] He Who Walks Behind The Rows Wants You![/caption]

In the end, I have to admit that this movie is a lot of fun, in all truth, it doesn't really go over the top anywhere, which both harms and helps this movie, for example... The special effects were fun, and where as they weren't that type of over CGI'd crap that is still prevalent in a lot of modern day movies... It fortunately wasn't there with this movie... The problem also is, is that there is nothing really uniquely different about these special effects...

But I will say this, all in all, this movie is a fun one, and even though there are certain elements of this movie that are not particularly unique, this is a fun little gem all in all, and if you check it out, I think that you might find this to be a fun little addition to your Friday night fright fest double feature!

http://youtu.be/uLT81wVp3BY

House 2: The Second Story (1987) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Written & Directed by: Ethan Wiley (Children Of The Corn V: Fields Of Terror), and based on the story created by Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad). Starring: Arye Gross (Minority Report), Jonathan Stark (Fright Night), Royal Dano (Space Invaders), Bill Maher (Cannibal Women In The Avacado Jungle Of Death), John Ratzenberger (Cheers), Lar Park-Lincoln (Friday The 13th Part VII: The New Beginning) & Amy Yasbeck (The Mask).

I have always known that I had seen one of the house movies when I was a kid (at this point I have seen both) but I always thought that it was the first one that I had seen, but as it turns out the first one that I had seen was actually the second one!

Well to be honest with you when I had seen this movie, I had seen parts of this on TV and I thought the movie was alright, but the truth is, is that since I have seen this movie all the way through, I can say that this movie is one of those rare opportunities where the sequel is just as good as the original! The actual original movie being more a sort of Sci-Fi movie, this one seemed to be more of a horror/fantasy movie, but was still a lot of fun!

For example, the story for this has to do with Jesse (Gross), and Kate (Park-Lincoln), a young couple who move in to the old family mansion...

Now in this house Jesse's parents had previously been murdered by an unidentified person, but with their success kind of slowly growing, Jesse decides to movie in the old family home with his family!

[caption id="attachment_1486" align="aligncenter" width="600"] 'Jesse', (Arye Gross) and, 'Kate' (Lar Park-Lincoln) before they realize what home ownership is really all about![/caption]

From the first night he gets there things are significantly different, what I mean by this is that Charlie (Stark) and Jana (Yasbeck) decide to move in with them and arrive at their door step drunk out of there mind... After that and while Jesse is researching his ancestor with the same name, (Dano), they come to discover that not only in his grave is a magical crystal skull (that can essentially give some one eternal life, but his ancestry is still alive but really old!

And after a music producer by the name of 'John' (Maher) comes to the house and takes the talented Jana, and Kate (who is a music industry executive) away to work, Jesse, Charlie, and, 'Gramps' will be thrown in to a world, where they will have to protect the skull from, cave Men, Aztecs, Dinosaurs, and all manner of monsters and men and what not, because if they don't then that could be it for Grandpa, and you know what? They are going to have to do this all from the comfort of Jesse own home!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Jesse, his ancestor, and his best friend as they battle a real dead cowboy![/caption]

Another thing that I thought was cool was how they added an element of adventure to this movie... I,e... the various times that they go to rescue the skull!
And the last thing that I wanted to mention here is the talent in this film... I mean the talent for the first one was great, and usually when you have great talent in the first one, for what ever reason the talent in the second one suffers, but not this one!

No, this movie has a great cast of awesome 80s/90s talent that includes: Arye Gross, Jonthan Stark, Royal Dano, John Ratzenberger, Lar Park-Lincoln & Amy Yasbeck. Also as a surprising twist, it turns out that George Wendt (Harold Gorton from the first House movie), and John Ratzenberger (who worked on, 'Cheers' with Mr Wendt) was also in this film!

Also the last thing that I thought you guys might find to be rather amusing is the fact that Bill Maher, with whom most people at this point would probably recognize him for the political commentary shows that he does was in this movie as well!

In the end this movie is a fun one, and I thought was definitely worth viewing, and you might as well!

http://youtu.be/5ouvkZzJ-Nc

The Terror (1963) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

There are very few artists in this world that can be said to be synonymous with the type of genre, or type of art that they do, more then Roger Corman (Queen Of Blood)…

Now I know there are a lot people who have come since Corman first started this, but the truth is, is that Roger Corman is the very embodiment of B Movies! I mean this guy has literally done hundreds of movie that would have never made it in the main stream… But you know what? The reason that they would not have made it in the main stream in all honesty is because no one can do what he does, like Roger Corman does… in some ways using the same elements that make up the mainstream?

What do I mean by this? Well simply put, this guy helped get some of Hollywood’s biggest names their start… or help them further careers, I mean here is just a small number of some of the amazing talent that this guy has worked with:

1. Ron Howard

2. Sylvester Stallone

3. Jack Nicholson

4. Robert De Niro

5. Boris Karloff

And that is just to name a few! Now you might be thinking, that If he had worked with such amazing A list talent that he must be an A Lister himself right? Well considering his legend he is more than an A-Lister, because in a way, Roger Corman helped sort of, ‘Mentor’ a lot of the Hollywood A-List of the 70s – 90s!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] B Movie Legend, 'Roger Corman' with horror movie legend, 'Vincent Price'![/caption]

But the truth is, is that Roger Corman has made his career out of making awesome movies, that people who are fans of the Hollywood A list type of movie, would consider it to be a B Movie, and I just so happen to catch one of his awesome B movies in the form of, The Terror (1963)!

Written by: Jack Hill (Foxy Brown), Leo Gordon (Attack Of The Giant Leeches) & Directed by: Roger Corman. Starring Jack Nicholson (Batman), Boris Karloff (The Crimson Cult), Sandra Knight (Thunder Road), Dick Miller (The Terminator), Dorothy Neumann (The Ten Commandments) and Jonathan Haze (The Little Shop Of Horrors).

You see, this movie tells the story of a young French Lieutenant by the name of, ‘Andre’ (Nicholson) a soldier in Napoleon's Army, a soldier low on morale, and lost from his regiment, who one day while he was nearing the end of his ropes and lost in the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Germany, ends up coming upon a woman who nearly kills him…

After this occurs, Andre is taken in by a weird old woman and her mute servant… Now searching for the woman that nearly killed him, Andre questions the woman (only to find that the woman is trying to make him believe that there is no woman… But later on, the old woman’s servant, ‘Gustav’ sends Andre to the Castle of the Baron Von Leppe!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The woman of this lowly Lieutenant's dreams may end up proving to be the woman of his nightmares![/caption]

Once he gets there though Andre is greeted by the kindly (but insane) old Baron Von Leppe (Karloff) and Von Leppe’s assistant. Now at this point Andre has forced his way in to the Baron’s home to stay for a while and will ultimately start an investigation in to the girl’s disappearance that will lead Andre, the Baron, and everyone around them in to a world that non of them will ever forget!

In the end, I found this movie is definitely worth a watch, and you might find this movie worth it as well!

http://youtu.be/N2YRo6dskac

The Hole (2009) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

When I was a kid I first discovered the works of people like, 'R.L. Stein'. R.L. Stein is an author who kind of would write young adult horror novels that all the kids for what ever reason in my class seemed to love, except me... Back then I was deep in to the works of authors like Stephen King! With that said though, the work of R.L. Stein as well as other authors of similar ilk became so popular, that besides merchandising, A TV show was made based on the works of R.L. Stein, as well as movies of similar ilk! Now I will be honest, I still am not a huge fan of these types of works, but I can definitely see their value for children, and I will admit that, The Hole (2009) is definitely one of them! Written by: Mark L. Smith (Vacancy), Directed by: Joe Dante (Innerspace). Starring: Chris Massoglia (A Plumm Summer), Haley Bennett (Marley & Me), Nathan Gamble (The Dark Knight), Teri Polo (Meet The Fockers) & Bruce Dern (The Driver). This movie tells the tale of a family that has been terrorized by letters from an abusive and deadly father that has been in prison for awhile but every letter sends them in to a talespin and sends them packing... After the latest move the family settles in to their new life, in there new house, with their bottomless pit! Now at first the hole serves to bring together brothers, Dane (Massoglia), and Lucas (Gamble) as they get more and more curious about the hole and how deep it goes!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Dane (Chris Massoglia), Lucas (Nathan Gamble) & their new friend, 'Julie' (Haley Bennett) as they are not just studying, but will eventually have to protect themselves from, 'The Hole'![/caption]

Later on after Lucas decides to force an introduction between the girl next door, 'Julie' (Bennett) she also comes over to work with them at this mysterious hole... But weird things begin to happen though you see, first off, Julie gets trapped in the woman's bathroom and the lights go out, and eventually a creepy little girl ends up walking by her... That is until one of Julie's friend's comes walking in and turns the lights back on. Lucas gets to confront his fear of clowns, when a clown doll shows up to scare the hell out of him! And for some reason Lucas also ends up seeing the same creepy little girl that Julie did! Now as things get worse and worse for the trio, the boys mother, 'Susan' (Polo) ends up taking off for the weekend... The stage is set for the three of them to face their fears in the worst possible way... Because in the dark of the hole, fear follows!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Lucas, as he is being chased by a toy clown... His biggest fear brought to life courtesy of, 'The Hole'![/caption]

In the end, I can definitely see how this movie is something that kids would enjoy, but for the more serious horror connoisseur, this movie's plot line was full of holes and some what confusing (despite the fact that this movie had a great premise.) There are no real scares, thrills or chills, and at one point I could tell that Joe Dante seemed to be trying to give some element of Beatlejuice when the brothers end up going in to the hole... But let's put it this way... This is no Beatlejuce! Now on the plus side, there is some pretty awesome talent that make appearances in it, including: Bruce Dern, and Teri Polo! In the end though I had to see this movie to review it, but if I knew then what I know now, I probably would not have seen this one personally!

http://youtu.be/EPXf0O7ko9E

Audrey Rose (1977) - Movie Review

[caption id="attachment_330" align="alignright" width="220"] Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]

The seventies saw a major change in horror movies… An interesting change… What’s that change you might ask, well that change saw the sudden rise in possession movies!

Now before you go asking what I mean by a possession movie… A possession movie (a term I guess you might say that I made up) is a movie having to do with an entity or a spirit possessing the body of living breathing person (In the case of the movies I am talking about, more specifically demons/the devil/or some other form of spirit inhabiting a humans body!)

Now of course we have all heard of, The Exorcist (1973), a story about a little girl that was possessed by an ancient evil demon, and the people that are trying to get rid of that demon and save the girl…

Well this movie I do believe helped popularize this particular type of movie, despite the fact that there have been other possession movies before and after The Exorcist… Such movies as, The Amityville Horror (1979), a movie about the possession of a house (and the man of the family being possessed by the demon as well, and another more modern/contemporary example would of course be the paranormal movies!

If you are wondering why I am mentioning this, the reason being is that there is another possession movie that I thought that I would mention here, and that movie is Audrey Rose (1977).

Written by: Frank De Fetta (The Entity), and Directed by: Robert Wise (The Day The Earth Stood Still). Starring: Susan Swift (Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers), Marsha Mason (Drop Dead Fred), Anthony Hopkins (Silence Of The Lambs), John Beck (Rollerball) and John Hillerman (Magnum P.I.)

I first heard about this movie, (which was based on the novel by Frank De Fetta), from … You guessed it, the original master of horror in my family, ‘my father’! Well since a lot of the horror movies that he had turned me on to in the horror genre had panned out real nicely over the years, I ended up sitting down to this movie about 15 years ago or so, and I gotta say that, ‘I FREAKIN LOVED IT’!

Now before I dive to deeply in to the awesomeness of this movie, I thought that I should tell you a little bit about the story:

You see, Audrey Rose tells the story of how in the 60s a little girl by the name of, ‘Audrey Rose’ and her mother are driving in a heavy storm in Pennsylvania, and during this time, the mother gets in to a car accident that ultimately kills both the mother and little Audrey Rose…

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="411"] The new, 'Audrey Rose' (Susan Swift) still want her old, 'Daddy'! (Anthony Hopkins)![/caption]

Well that seemed to be the end of little Audrey Rose’s story (or so you would think!) You see over the course of about 11 years, Audrey Rose’s father, (through various mystical, spiritual and more down to Earth means) comes to believe that Audrey Rose’s spirit has settled in to the body of an 11 year old girl by the name of, ‘Ivy Templeton’ (Swift), who happened to be born on the exact same day and only two minutes after the death of little Audrey Rose, and who every year around her birthday has particularly, (albeit unintentionally so), violent episodes!

Now of course Ivy’s parents are quite skeptical, and rather scared of this man, but as he becomes more and more a part of their lives, it begins to look like Audrey Rose really may have settled in to this body to early, and it will be up to this seemingly, ‘crazy’ intruder to try and put his daughter to rest before, the Templeton’s end up loosing their daughter as well!

All in all definitely one of the more interesting ones!

http://youtu.be/Gr-iri3B11E

Baron Blood (1972) - Movie Review

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

There is a horror movie director that is very well known in most circles, that director is Mario Bava (Planet Of The Vampires)…

Unfortunately Mr. Bava is no longer around, but when he was this guy I suspect helped at least to some extent to influence such people as George A. Romero (Night Of The Living Dead), he was a pioneer that helped to define an era of some of the greatest cheesy, ‘B’ Horror movies that the world would ever know!

Another thing about this guy that I thought that I would mention here is that Mario Bava, along with such greats of other genre’s (such as Sergio Leone in Spaghetti Westerns) where real trailblazers, what with not just having helped to create a truly legendary Italian cinema, but in the case of Mario Bava, his work still translates decades after their release to the still legions of fans that he has all over the world!

The last thing that I do unfortunately have to say is that I recently really started to dig in to his work, what with having recently watched, Planet Of The Vampires (1965)… And you want to know what I think is the best thing about this legendary master of horror?

Well simply stated the best thing about this guy’s amazing body of work is the eerie sense of doom that pervades the suspense that ends up keeping you on the edge of your seat almost all the way through the movie!

With that said, that is just one of the reasons I was glad to see the movie: Baron Blood (1972).

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] The Baron has come home to play![/caption]

You see, this movie, which was written by: Vincent Forte (Missile To The Moon), and which starred: Joseph Cotton (The Survivor), Elke Sommer (The Prize), Rada Rassimov (Necropolis), Massimo Girotti (Facing Windows), and Antonio Cantafora (Demons 2) is an interesting story that seems to incorporate certain elements of the tales of both ‘Vlad The Impaler (Dracula)’ and, ‘Elizabeth Bathory’, you see both were sadistic lunatics (who both happened to be noble people,) and Vlad liked to impale certain subjects that lived in the areas that he controlled that he ultimately did not get along with!

Anyway, this movie tells the tale of a particularly brutal 16th century Baron by the name of, ‘Baron Otto Von Kleist’ (Cotton), who would sadistically torture and kill certain citizens that lived in the areas that he controlled… (That was until he made the mistake of killing a witch that would go on to set a curse on him that would damn him for all eternity…)

Well as it turns out, the Baron would end up being burned alive inside of his Castle…

Three hundred years later, his descendant, Peter Kleist (Cantafora), an American, who would end up deciding to go ahead and look up some of his roots after college…

At first everything is moving along alright, he meets his long lost Uncle Karl (Girotti), ‘a professor at the local school’, and he would end up meeting a woman by the name of, ‘Eva’ (Sommer), with whom he would fall for while he is on vacation in the old country… As a matter of fact he brings along an old spell that would supposedly summon his ancestor…

The only problem is that after Peter and Eva go to the castle to, ‘Summon’ Baron Von Kleist, strange things start to happen, people start going missing, etc… And as time goes by it is starting to look like Peter is going to be able to re-unite with another long lost relative!

[caption id="attachment_815" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Peter (Cantafora) is really regretting resurrecting his dead ancestor![/caption]

In the end, this movie is a great time, and if you haven’t seen it yet… Trust me when I say that I thought it was well worth it, and you might think so as well!

http://youtu.be/kL-aU1fW2-o