Horror Classics: 100 Movie Pack [24 Discs]Horror Classics: 100 Movie Pack [24 Discs]

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MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

    No other horror set can touch this! Here are enough chills, thrills and kills to fill your own midnight-movie marathons for years: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price and all those other frightfully famous stars appear in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Devil Bat, Don't Look in the Basement, Creepers, Horror of the Zombies, Night Fright, The Phantom, Unsane, Scared to Death, Blood Tide and more. 24 DVDs. Color-b&w/126 hrs., 40 min/NR/fullscreen.

DVD FEATURES:
  • Number of Discs: 24
  • Screen: Color
  • Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
REVIEWS:
  • According to an oft-told tale, a young man disappeared without a trace during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Decades later, Alexander Woolcott penned a story for the New Yorker, "The Most Maddening Story in the World", which itself became the genesis for a 1947 novel and a 1951 British film, both entitled So Long at the Fair. And just like the later and much better-known Dirk Bogarde thriller, The Midnight Warning's main attraction is its confounding mystery. Spencer Gordon Bennet, in one of his infrequent departures from serials, does a fine job directing a ramshackle cast of B-movie regulars that includes the confusingly named William "Stage" Boyd (a moniker given lest anyone should mistake him for the handsome silver-haired matinee idol of the same name) and, in a rare non-villainous performance, Hooper Atchley. Leading lady Claudia Dell, according to Bennet, was so inexperienced that she actually knocked herself unconscious performing a fall in the quite scary mortuary sequence. The traumatic episode remains clearly visible in the film. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Anyone who knows their giallo fare knows that The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave is one of the most famous titles in that genre's history. That said, it never quite lives up to the hype: despite a memorably odd premise, the script never quite coheres and loses track of its most intriguing plot threads (like the source of its main character's psychosis) as it goes about its sleazy business. The story also falls into a lull around its midsection, and Emilio Miraglia's direction, though stylish, isn't pace-conscious enough to gloss over this flaw. As a result, The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave isn't as feverish or shocking as it should be. Still, Euro-trash fans might want to check this out for its hefty doses of kink, including a stripper who uses a coffin in her act and Lord Cunningham's erotically charged flashbacks to his wife's infidelity. It also boasts a spooky castle setting and a stunning gothic/lounge score by Bruno Nicolai. In short, The Night Evelyn Came out of the Grave might make acceptable fodder for giallo fans but isn't as memorable as its reputation suggests. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
  • A plane crash strands eight showgirls and their manager Gary (Alex D'Arcy of The Prisoner of Zenda, 1937) on a seemingly deserted tropical island. Despite their discovery of a corpse hanging in an oversized spider's web, the ladies blithely busy themselves with bouts of sunbathing and skinny-dipping, while Gary traverses the island. His exploration earns him a bite from an enormous spider, which transforms into a slavering creature with a newfound appetite for dancers. While the primary purpose of this German-made oddity is to show scantily clad women imperiled by a decidedly male beast, it's also attractively photographed, and several scenes (most notably, Gary's first post-bite attack, and his final flight through a swamp) deliver a frisson not usually found in nudie-cutie/monster movie hybrids (e.g., House on Bare Mountain, 1962). Pacemaker Pictures distributed the film in the United States, first as an adults-only feature under the title It's Hot in Paradise, and later, in a slightly "cooler" print under the Spider Island moniker, which played as part of a double bill with 1959's The Fiendish Ghouls (aka Mania). Image Entertainment and Something Weird Video's DVD is the uncut Paradise version, and includes a trio of spider-themed stripper/cheesecake shorts, as well as an eye-popping gallery of exploitation poster art. ~ Paul Gaita, Rovi
  • Attack Of The Monsters is one of the lesser Gamera entries. It's obvious the filmmakers had a smaller budget with this entry because it recycles scenes from other films in this series and features some atypically shoddy rear-projection effects. The kid-friendly focus of the film is taken a bit too far, making the film sickly-sweet at times, and it doesn't help that young star Christopher Murphy is a terrible actor. That said, completists may still want to check Attack Of The Monsters (known in Japan as Gamera Vs. Guiron) for a few reasons. The first is villain Guiron, who has a unique design - his head and nose are shaped like a giant knife blade. Guiron is probably also the most violent of Gamera foes: a startling scene has him using his razor-sharp noggin to chop up a rival monster he has just killed! The film's plot also has some surprising fairytale-like elements, with the two humanoid aliens that drive the plot kind of acting like the witch from "Hansel And Gretel" towards our kid heroes (right down to wanting to use them as a food source). Ultimately, the mix of saccharine kid-movie elements and often surrealistic monster movie shocks will not be to everyone's taste but monster movies might find Attack Of The Monsters to be an amusingly campy entry in the Gamera series. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
  • Bowery at Midnight is simply a bad movie, but for those of us who revel in campy horror pics, it's worth watching. Truth to tell, it barely fits into the "horror" genre, placed there mostly because of the presence of the great Bela Lugosi and a Zombie subplot that seems to have been grafted onto the film as a result of Lugois's participation. Otherwise, Bowery is pretty much a crime thriller, albeit not a particularly good or convincing one. Lurid and melodramatic, Bowery's script doesn't make much sense and is totally unbelievable and is filled with wince-inducing dialogue. It does, interestingly, throw in a few tidbits of sociological interest, but the dramatic aspects of the script are strictly from hunger. Wallace W. Fox's direction is of the "get the shot and move on to the next one" variety; it's not good, but it has a certain efficiency and innocence that's some how appealing. The cast handles its cheesy chores in typical fashion, with the exception of Lugosi, who manages to rise above the material, even while playing down to its baser instincts. He makes even the most ludicrous moments enjoyable, and frequently fascinating. Again, Bowery is not anything like a good movie -- but it's much more entertaining than other films that are technically much better. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Bugs, blood, and rock & roll are the orders of the day in this creepy-crawly shocker from Dario Argento. Jennifer Connelly plays a teenager with a gift for communicating with insects -- a talent that comes in handy when she is sent to a Swiss boarding school where a killer has been slaughtering the students. Definitely not for the squeamish, Phenomena contains a series of bold, bloody special effects that are graphically captured by cinematographer Romano Albini. Among the best is the opening sequence in which a girl is stabbed on the observatory deck of a waterfall. The butchery amidst the natural beauty provides a chilling visual contrast while the camera holds on to a tremendous shot of the girl shattering a glass partition. The story, written by Argento and Franco Ferrini, is basically a twist on the serial killer formula, but it is effective because of the filmmaker's great sense of style and suspense. The revelation of the killer is well done and is just one of many fantastic shocks included in a scary, extended climax that features a pit of decomposed bodies, a decapitation, a monstrous mutant-child, a deadly insect swarm, and a razor-wielding monkey. In true Argento style, many scenes are backed by a heavy metal soundtrack that includes Iron Maiden and Motorhead, among others. Connelly has certainly grown as an actress since Phenomena, but her striking looks help to carry her performance. Donald Pleasence is excellent to watch, as always, although he is murdered in rather boring fashion considering Argento's talent for creative murder scenes. The costumes were done by Giorgio Armani. Version reviewed is the full 110-minute original cut. The bloodless U.S. version is titled Creepers and runs only 82 minutes. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi
  • Considering the strange and terrible fate of the lead actress -- Susan Cabot apparently lived her own nightmare and was eventually killed by her increasingly browbeaten son -- The Wasp Woman takes on an added poignancy that obviously wasn't intended by the film's cheapskate producer-director, Roger Corman. Here is yet another creature flick hampered by a ludicrous monster costume -- nothing more than a Halloween mask, really -- not quite as bad as it could have been but not very good either. Cabot herself does well enough as the youth-obsessed heroine/villainess and the film does attempt to address both the increasing paranoia regarding aging and science run amok. But the cheesy special effects (if you can call a rubber mask and a couple of claws "special effects") and lack of any kind of budget betray the good intentions. Typical of Corman, the supporting roles are well cast (including the stunning Lynn Cartwright as a Brooklyn-accented secretary) and an attempt to turn modern office life into a sort of Grand Guignol melodrama works at least part of the way. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Director Sergio Martino's contribution to the Italian cannibal horror-adventure cycle of the early to mid-'70s is a rung or two below the vomitus excesses of the subgenre's most unpleasant entries, Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox. It's still a graphic and unpleasant film, with all the noxious trademarks intact: gratuitous violence, real-life atrocities committed against live animals, and an uncomfortably imperialist attitude towards underprivileged peoples. But Martino tempers the blow with professional direction and lush cinematography, and the presence of Stacy Keach (an infrequent star of Italian exploitation in the '70s) and Ursula Andress (whose undraped frame, still impressive in her forties, is on display in several scenes) helps add touches of much-needed class and skill to the proceedings. But professionalism and class aren't what fans of these films are looking for, and exploitation fans may be somewhat disappointed by the film's sluggish pace and lack of suspense or dread, something that despite their hideousness, both Cannibal Holocaust and Cannibal Ferox had in spades. By contrast, Mountain of the Cannibal God comes across as a sort of grisly Boys' Own adventure -- nasty, but also somewhat quaint with its old-fashioned cursed mountains and white goddesses. Anchor Bay's widescreen DVD presentation is uncut and retains about four minutes of graphic sexuality (including a genuinely shocking moment of faux bestiality) missing from most American prints. It also includes a 12-minute featurette on the making of the film, as well as the original Italian trailer and bios on Martino, Keach, and Andress. ~ Paul Gaita, Rovi
  • Feeling somewhat like a Val Lewton film, Night Tide is an imperfect but haunting venture that lingers in the mind for days after viewing, like a dream that won't quite let you go. Director Curtis Harrington is playing with genres, mixing romance and thriller and flirting with horror, and the end result doesn't quite come together as he might desire -- probably because Night Tide was created for the low budget exploitation market, and so there are certain contrivances that are foisted upon it. But Harrington directs the film with such skill, taking careful advantage of the opportunities when he can get beneath the surfaces of the genres and hint at psychological depths, that most will forgive Tide for its flaws. Some may also find the film a tad slow, but the pacing is necessary to create the ethereal moodiness that Harrington is trying for and so often succeeds in capturing. Credit must also be given to David Raksin's excellent score, a definite plus. Fans of Dennis Hopper may be very surprised by his performance here; unlike in many of his later "psychotic" performances, Hopper's work here reveals how gentle and tender he can be. It's a totally believable performance, and essential to the film's effectiveness. There's also strong work from Linda Lawson and Gavin Muir, and Harrington is also fortunate to have Vilis Lapenieks on hand to provide very atmospheric camerawork. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • "Here, in certain communities, the life of which is found nowhere else in all the world, these people of darker hue have demonstrated their abilities in self-government by the orderly processes of law of which they are capable when unhampered by outside influence." Thus reads a rather patronizing foreword to this otherwise modest little whodunit produced and directed by George Randol, a purveyor of all-black entertainment. The mostly white crew behind Midnight Shadow may have harbored loftier goals, but the result of their labors is much more Hollywood than the introduction would suggest -- and technically no worse than many a low-budget job from Monogram or even Republic Pictures. Oddly, though, the comic relief characters here, played by Richard Bates and a delightful Buck Woods, come across just as stereotypical as, say, Mantan Moreland or Willie Best in their more mainstream efforts. Clinton Rosemond, in contrast, offers a strong portrayal as the murder victim and minor roles are well acted by the likes of Napoleon Simpson and Ruby Dandridge, the mother of star-crossed lead actress Dorothy Dandridge. Although not an important film in the African-American oeuvre, Midnight Shadow, which was filmed at rental stages in Hollywood, remains a modestly entertaining mystery thriller of the old school. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • If the plot of Torture Ship sounds bizarre, it should -- it was lifted from a Jack London story entitled A Thousand Deaths, published in 1899, that is even nastier, about a shipwreck survivor who drowns at sea and is revived by his own estranged father, as part of a series of experiments in which the young man is killed, and reanimated numerous times, until he takes steps to destroy his tormentor. Starting from that material, director/producer Victor Halperin, who had previously made two deeply atmospheric exercises in the macabre, White Zombie and Revolt of the Zombies, added the element of criminals on the run. The entire mix is unsettling more than horrific, lacking the dark, enveloping visuals and mood of White Zombie. There is horrific stuff happening here, and a tone of menace and doom throughout, and when Talbot's character is briefly "zombie-fied" it is very unsettling. There are also moments of humor that shouldn't fit in a Halperin movie, but here they make the action easier to take, as when one of the hoods accepts the offer of food from a woman captive, and then remembers that she was sent up for poisoning people. Additionally, the presence of several bizarre yet familiar faces among the criminals, including Skelton Knaggs, and Stanley Blystone as the first-mate, make this a strange and diverting (if not exactly "entertaining") thriller for old movie buffs. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
  • Manos, the Hands of Fate is the sole production of Hal P. Warren, an El Paso fertilizer salesman who wrote, directed, and starred in this peculiar low-budget horror story. A stuttering, staggering sort of film, Manos stupefies the viewer with an odd, timeless pace thanks to innumerable continuity gaps and awkward editing. While a painfully amateur production all the way, the damaged technical aspects are matched with an illogical and confusing story that lends a sort of dreamlike frisson that only sublimely wretched films can provide. What might have been just one more curiosity in the junk room of cinema history is given life by John Reynolds, whose performance as the bizarre caretaker "Torgo" is so eccentric that he's worth recommending on his own. Reynolds twitches, sways, and fidgets so incessantly that his movements appear choreographed, like an extended pantomime piece. His enormous knees and clumsy gait are never explained, but his glassy eyes, paranoid demeanor, and overall itchiness make him stand out amongst an otherwise indifferent cast. This addled obscurity actually earned a few play dates back in the day but was generally met with derision by audiences, and misfortune followed in its wake (including Reynolds' suicide). After sitting on the shelf for decades, it was resuscitated by the snarky comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, which roasted Manos, the Hands of Fate in a popular episode. As a result, video and DVD copies have kept this charming little epic in circulation far greater than the rural Texas drive-ins for which it was meant. Seek out the original, non-ironic version first for an utterly unique cinematic experience. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
  • Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn was the most popular melodrama of the Victorian stage in England. It was based on a true crime story from 1827 that had excited the public imagination in a way that no murder case would until the advent of Jack the Ripper. The historic Maria Marten was a lower class opportunist who'd had trysts with several men before setting her sites on William Corder, the scoundrel scion of a reasonably well-to-do farming family a couple of years her junior. She and Corder had a child out of wedlock - her third - which mysteriously disappeared, as did Maria Marten herself shortly after. After Marten's stepmother - just one year older than Marten - reported having dreams about Marten having been murdered and buried in the Red Barn, a local landmark, Marten's body was discovered there. After a very humiliating and public trial, Corder was hanged.

    The theatrical property of Maria Marten was not a single play, but an entire repertoire of anonymous plays about the case, the earliest staged while Corder yet lived. These were seen everywhere from fairground peepshows to low class penny gaffs to legitimate theater; it is said that all of these versions taken together makes Maria Marten the most frequently performed entertainment in nineteenth-century England. Over time, some characterizations were changed; Corder became an older man of means and Maria Marten a basically virtuous girl whose interest in Corder was an inexplicable caprice that led to her downfall. Maria was provided with an alternate suitor of a somewhat lower class than herself, her stepmother rebranded as a proper mother and her father upgraded from molecatcher to a village squire or clergyman. The messy business of the baby and of the stepmother's dreams - ultimately adjudged too supernatural an element - dropped out of the story. This film version, produced by George King as an independent and released in the UK by MGM's English subsidiary, was the first one in sound and the fifth film version of Maria Marten overall.

    Veteran English actor Tod Slaughter made his entrance into the Edwardian theater and, from the early 1920s, made a career playing Victorian-style villains in South London melodramas; by the time he made his film debut with Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn, Slaughter was fifty years of age, a legend of the stage and had already appeared in this play countless times, though not always in the prime part of Corder. Slaughter is the main reason to watch the film now; although he is often described as "over the top," his performance in Maria Marten is surprisingly nuanced. He clearly understood something about psychosis and moves seamlessly from callous indifference to remorse, from being just a normal fellow to irradiating pure evil and mixing it all up in a very skillful and effective way, not to mention very much enjoying playing the bad guy. The other players are professional and adequate, but none make quite the impression that Slaughter does, though Eric Portman delivers a strong and assertive performance as the gypsy Carlos; he would much later serve as one of the "Number Twos" in the original TV series of The Prisoner. Despite utilizing the framing device of the staged introductions and never moving too far from the stage milieu in which the show was so comfortably popular, the film never seems static and there are occasional artistic visual touches, though these are very brief; one wonders what this could have been like had Carl Theodor Dreyer directed it.

    English censors could be fairly heavy handed when came to American horror films, but American censors took the hatchet to Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn, reducing it by the equivalent of a full reel; some state-based censor boards cut it back even further. It is in such a drastically shortened version that the film is circulated on DVD and video, yet even in its truncated state, Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn is still highly watchable entertainment which transcends the boundaries of Victorian stage melodrama while still documenting one of the key works of the genre and benefits greatly from the one great actor at its core.
    ~ David Lewis, Rovi
  • Mascot Pictures was the leader in not only serials but in serial "cheats," the device wherein the masked villain is played by one or more of the innocent cast members until revealed as someone totally different in both stature and bearing. The tradition carried over to the studio's feature films, of which One Frightened Night remains one of the best. Here, tall Ted Mapes, a well-known stuntman, impersonates the mystery villain when not portrayed by smallish bandleader Roger Pryor, who was enlisted by producer Nat Levine from a neighboring production. When the mask finally falls, however, the real culprit is revealed to be quite a different actor altogether. Nobody, least of all the juvenile audience of the day, complained of this or other such incongruities as having a secret room, sealed off for decades, emerge complete with modern 1935 light fixtures. Or having a seemingly torrential downpour fail to leave a single wet drop on humans or flora. Screenwriters Stuart Palmer and Wellyn Totman had obviously seen such legendary "haunted house" chillers as The Cat and the Canary several times and One Frightened Night continues the tradition of mixing murder melodrama with comedy and doing it quite well. As always, the policemen are denser than fog, housekeepers hatchet-faced, and one of the inevitable heirs, Wallace Ford, wisecracks at the ready. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • One of Dario Argento's best thrillers, this horror film has gone on to cult status due to its shocking, bloody style and twist-filled story. Available in America for many years in only a badly cut version titled Unsane, Tenebre tells the story of an American novelist (Anthony Franciosa) whose P.R. trip to Rome to promote his latest tome becomes tied to a series of slayings. The murders -- slashing, stabbing, axing, and strangling among them -- are extremely graphic, but are enacted in a stylish manner that makes them all the more disturbing. Such startling visuals are the film's finest point, and credit goes to both Argento and cinematographer Luciano Tovoli for this aspect. One particularly strong shot has the killer putting out a bare light bulb by running a razor blade through it. Another great shot (later used on the U.S. video box cover) lingers on a murdered woman who is left with her head dangling through a shattered window pane. Most memorable is a sadistic flashback by the killer in which three youths hold him down while a woman forces her high heel into his mouth. The script is a simple murder-mystery that does a good job of throwing the audience off track and keeping things suspenseful as each potential suspect is knocked off. The film's final reel is easily one of the bloodiest ever made and features a couple of great surprises. Performances are generally dull, but they don't take much away from the film's horror impact. The unmistakable score was performed by members of the group Goblin, who performed under their last names due to legal issues. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi
  • Produced by the A.W. Hackel unit at Monogram at an even lower budget than the company's usual parsimonious expenditure, The Man With Two Lives manages to entertain to an almost startling degree. The main reason is a good performance by Edward Norris, a grade-Z movie star but one with a certain style and panache. Norris is effective both as the charming socialite and as the revived but highly antisocial alter ego. It is Dr. Frankenstein meets Mr. Hyde -- or something like that, the movie never really makes up its mind -- and the fact that Norris manages to stay afloat remains impressive. The supporting actors were all old hands at this sort of thing and included leading lady Marlo Dwyer, who had been known as Wilma Francis when performing chorus duties at Warner Bros. in the 1930s. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Returning to both the theme and locations of his earlier The Vampire Bat (1933), director Frank R. Strayer is at it again but in much more stately fashion. Where the earlier excursion into the macabre zipped by with commendable speed, Condemned to Live takes its sweet old time to get from point A to the inevitable point B, an exercise in tedium that offers a modern audience plenty of opportunity to admire such classic sets as the Hunchback of Notre Dame's bell tower, the famous Castle Frankenstein, the Middle European village and other Universal landmarks, some of whom remain attractions to this very day. The acting and dialogue is early talkie cumbersome and Ralph Morgan amply demonstrates why he never became as popular as brother Frank. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • Shock is a mid-level thriller that, while never approaching greatness, is certainly entertaining enough. One part "suspenser," one part psychological thriller and one part film noir, Shock doesn't totally satisfy whatever genre it's put in, but it's hard not to get caught up in the very mechanical twists and turns of its plot. Hard, but not impossible -- those who demand logic and believability will throw their hands up at a number of the blatant manipulations that screenwriter Eugene Ling engages in. But director Arnold L. Werker seems to be having so much fun with this little cat-and-mouser that many viewers will overlook the deficiencies in the screenplay. Besides, there are a number of moments -- such as the early dream sequence -- that work much too well, and the tension as the film nears its climax is very effective. Too, Shock has the wonderful Vincent Price turning in a delicious, yet not hammy, performance. It's early in Price's career, and he hasn't turned to the blatant (if enjoyable) scenery chewing that some of his later roles brought out in him; his work here is careful and thought out, even when he goes for an extreme moment. All in all, Shock is an undemanding, lurid little flick that's more fun than it really should be. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • Supposedly sexy sci-fi for the discriminating cinemaphile, Invasion of the Bee Girls has been credited with a knowing satirical bent solely because of the relatively distinguished minds behind its creation. Don't be fooled by the hype. This low-brow psychotronic classic is no smarter or dumber than a host of equally exploitative bottom dwellers. It is, however, an entertaining piece of trash that scores high with a good, solid cast, a creative concept and straightforward delivery of some utterly silly action. William Smith is at his square-jawed best as the two-fisted hero, Anitra Ford is all smarm and ice as the villainous queen bee and familiar character actor Cliff Osmond delivers a surprisingly subtle performance as the overworked local sheriff. Slumming in the sexploitation cesspool are screenwriter Nicholas Meyer (Time After Time, Fatal Attraction and a few Star Trek movies) and director Denis Saunders (respected for documentaries A Time Out of War, Soul to Soul and Czechoslovakia 1968); perfectly comfortable in the sleazy milieu is cinematographer Gary Graver, who shot footage for directors as diverse as Al Adamson and Orson Welles. While celebrity critics Siskel and Ebert were right to recommend Invasion of the Bee Girls as a "guilty pleasure," its cinematic worth isn't much higher than many films the duo dismissed outright. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
  • The Ape Man is for many a made-in-camp-heaven classic; for others, it's a sorry waste of a talented actor whose typecasting doomed him to a sad life. If one can forget that horror star Bela Lugosi was forced to forego his considerable talent and appear in dreck such as this and that this contributed to his early death, it's easy to have a ball at Ape Man. This is, clearly, one of the worst horror films ever made. Inept is too kind a word for the writing and directing. It's almost as if writer Barney A. Sarecky was trying to prove something, perhaps that it is indeed possible to write a screenplay at one sitting, with your eyes closed, creating dialogue only by drawing it blindfolded from a goldfish bowl filled with random sentences cut from "The Big Book of Cliched Sentences." Director William Beaudine's work is atrocious, as is typical of this reviled hack, with no imagination or interest evident at all. The acting, even by the talented Lugosi is at best substandard. All of which, if one is in the right mind, does mean that Ape can be a hoot, especially the ending, which seems to have wandered in from a Tex Avery cartoon. For camp mavens, it's a treat; for Lugosi fans, it's an ordeal. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a towering landmark film in cinematic history; it had a profound stylistic impact on much of German cinema before WWII, it was the progenitor of the moody chiaroscuro look of 1940s film noir, and, according to Siegfried Kracauer in his seminal book From Caligari to Hitler, it was a harbinger of the rise of Naziism. Originally scripted as a bizarre fever dream about the sick soul of Weimar Germany, Caligari had a prologue and epilogue added over the objections of screenwriters Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz that explained the tale as the ramblings of a madman. Though its political subtext may have been subordinated, its artistic achievements remained potent. Marked by off-kilter sets, lighting, and costumes, the visual style of Caligari brilliantly fuses into a seamless exterior projection of the narrator's demented interior state of mind. The acting is similarly stylized, featuring striking performances by Werner Krauss as the sinister Dr. Caligari and Conrad Veidt as his somnambulist plaything. The international success of Caligari spawned a series of Expressionistic films, including such prominent works as Der Golem (1920), Nosferatu (1922), and Metropolis (1927). Its canted grotesque look has proven a major influence on such diverse directors as Kenji Mizoguchi, Kenneth Anger, and Tim Burton. In spite of its age, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a hypnotic masterpiece that still manages to unnerve and provoke. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
  • The Devil's Partner is a low-budget black-and-white rural horror film with an unusual story line. Although it's more soap opera than shocker, there are several goat sacrifices, a wino is trampled by a Satanic black horse, and Nelson performs wacko rituals on a blood-smeared hexagon. Byron Foulger steals the show as an easily spooked wino, and director Charles R. Rondeau (The Girl in Lovers' Lane) keeps things interesting throughout. Not bad at all. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
  • The Knights Templar take to the high seas in this third installment in Amando De Ossorio's infamous Blind Dead film series. The production is obviously low-budget -- particularly when you are forced to see the same foggy shot of a Spanish galleon that is an obvious miniature -- but it is still amusing and occasionally chilling fun for fans of the series. While De Ossorio's original film was a scary shocker, the sequels attempted increasingly outrageous tactics to please viewers. For its part, El Buque Maldito combines elements of vampire films with those of The Exorcist, which was released a year earlier and was to inspire dozens of lesser films such as this one. The best is when a meteorological professor suddenly reveals his knowledge of "exorcism" by burning a homemade cross to chase the zombies back into their caskets. The graphic elements have been toned down quite a bit (there's a tame lesbian sequence and very little gore) and the ghouls are not nearly as threatening this time around (hardly any have swords), but the shipboard setting provides an interesting new venue for the Templars. There's also a well-designed shock ending that provides a fitting climax for the galleon's survivors. As with all of his Blind Dead films, De Ossorio comes up with a good concept that is weakened by screenwriting gaffs such as ludicrous plot turns and inane characters who appear unable to think with any degree of logic. Then again, since they only serve as victims for the ghouls, it doesn't make much difference. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi
  • The Phantom is played for laughs, and with that in mind the film is actually much better than its tattered reputation. The usually doltish Guinn "Big Boy" Williams is quite good as the enterprising hero and silent serial queen Allene Ray, in her final film, manages to deliver her few lines with some conviction despite the fact that sound had supposedly destroyed her career. Through it all runs veteran bogeyman Sheldon Lewis, in the mix for no other apparent purpose than to give the audience the expected chills. Contrary to popular wisdom, Lewis does not play The Phantom of the title, the killer instead proving to be the least expected among the cast members. Director Alan James also supplied the screenplay under his real name, Alvin J. Neitz. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
  • The premise of Bride of the Gorilla is so goofy that one approaches it expecting a campy laugh-fest -- and why not? It's hard to pinpoint why exactly, but a man turning into a wolf is by nature an intriguing and interesting idea, while a man turning into a gorilla is by nature simply nutty. That's not to say that the latter idea absolutely cannot be the basis for a good horror flick, but it is to say that the idea requires a lot more work just to be acceptable, let alone good. Gorilla doesn't do the work, but what's much more damaging is that it doesn't even have fun with its silly premise. Indeed, Gorilla takes itself awfully seriously, with the result that it comes across as dull, dull, dull. Yes, viewers may find themselves chuckling a little during the first fifteen minutes or so of ponderous dialogue, leaden acting and sluggish direction, as well as the budget-conscious sets and flat photography. But the humor peters out rather quickly, and boredom sets in. Tom Conway manages to keep our interest most of the film, and Lon Chaney, Jr.'s quirkiness has some appeal. But aside from appreciating that he's in much better shape than he was as Perry Mason, there's little to recommend in Raymond Burr's performance. Barbara Payton, meanwhile, is a sheer delight to look at, but as an actress, she doesn't impress as much. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
  • There are few that will be able to derive any pleasure from Curse of the Headless Horseman, a tedious, apparently improvised mess concocted to fill space on a double feature bill with 1971's Carnival of Blood. Leonard Kirtman is the director responsible for both films; while Carnival is a marginally better structured film, both pictures share endless babbling dialogue that has nothing to do with the story being told and characters who are privy to plot points that they never witnessed and could not have known about. In Horseman, Kirtman (directing here under the name John Kirkland) lets a gang of interchangeable hippie kids cavort before the camera, stealing bits from Billy Jack and singing Bob Dylan songs without crediting their source. The horror elements are added like an afterthought, and are hardly threatening. The horseman is never responsible for anything other than soiling some tie-dyed shirts with blood, and it's fear (and in one instance, LSD) that drives the victims to run blindly in front of trucks and have heart attacks. In a laughable attempt to secure a "name" for the film, Warhol Factory groupie Ultra Violet receives prominent billing for a brief, pointless scene as a wealthy French woman interested in buying the ranch. Her fifteen minutes were officially over after this appearance. Kirtman switched gears after making his two boring thrillers and got into the pornography business, directing many films under the name Leon Gucci. In epics like Deep Rub and Female Athletes, the director proved to be as inept as ever, but at least learned to include enough of the expected "action" to keep the audiences' interest. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
  • This Canadian thriller with horror overtones is one of the best films to follow in the footsteps of Deliverance. Like that John Boorman classic, this film places a group of everyman urban types in the wild and pits them against a rural menace. However, Rituals sidesteps the pitfalls of being a copycat by adding its own wrinkles into the mix: conflict between the heroes plays a bigger role in the story than it does in Deliverance and the finale takes things to a darker, more pessimistic extreme than its apparent inspiration did. Needless to say, Rituals isn't what one would call light fare but those who can stick with it will be rewarded with an uncompromising, intelligent thriller that offers some dark commentary on the human condition. It also boasts stellar performances across the board: Hal Holbrook is the obvious standout as the grim realist of the group but underrated Canadian actor Lawrence Dane adds a lot to the film as the survivor who clashes with Holbrook's bleak outlook. Their verbal sparring sessions enhance the tension of the film, creating the intensity of emotion necessary to make the storyline work. Horror fans will be impressed by Peter Carter's direction, which creates a hellish atmosphere for the goings-on and builds to a shattering finale that will have the audience on edge. To sum up, Rituals is a powerful, frequently unnerving blend of horror and social commentary that deserves more notice. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
  • Though the cyborg theme suggests a Terminator knockoff, Hands Of Steel is actually a late entry in Italy's early 1980's cycle of post-apocalyptic action flicks. It's a decent time-killer for b-movie fans, with a surprisingly involved storyline that mixes in some unique plot detours (for instance, a couple of arm wrestling competitions!) along with the expected adventure stuff. The southwestern setting gives it a unique flavor and Sergio Martino (using the pseudonym of "Martin Dolman") does a decent job of delivering plentiful action on a shoestring budget: his best moment might be a scene where the hero has to fend off gun-toting assassins while also fighting a pair of disguised cyborgs in close quarters. In terms of acting, former soap star Daniel Greene is a bit stone-faced as the half-robot hero but that seems oddly appropriate for the part. He's also given nice support from a cast of Euro-cult stalwarts: Janet Agren makes a suitably sultry love interest, George Eastman steals a few scenes as a truck-driving bad guy and John Saxon does his usual professional job as the main industrialist villain. The end results are frequently silly (it takes the police a really long time to figure out they're hunting a cyborg).but never dull. In short, Hands Of Steel is strictly for the b-movie audience but they're likely to enjoy its low-budget fun. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
  • TV director Herb Wallerstein leads a cast of second-rate reliables on a leisurely walk through creature feature territory. Scripted by Joseph Stefano (Psycho, The Outer Limits) with help from real-life Bigfoot "expert" Roger Patterson, Snowbeast transparently restages Jaws on the slopes of Colorado with a yeti standing in for the Great White. Every base is touched at least once, so we're given a festive "Winter Carnival" that no one wants to cancel, a trio of crusaders whose warnings go ignored, and a camper van taking the place of the Orca. Robert Logan (Across the Great Divide), Yvette Mimieux (The Black Hole), and Bo Svenson (Walking Tall, Part Two) make for an unlikely love triangle, but a lot of early energy is spent drumming up interest in unrequited romance and a failing marriage. It's all tossed aside with a handshake once the beast starts leaving corpses in the snow, rendering this feeble stab at character development moot. Svenson muses over the "Bigfoot controversy" while soaking in a steaming outdoor pool, dating Snowbeast for anyone who remembers the proliferation of bogus Sasquatch documentaries in the mid-'70s. There's a good reason why the monster is never shown for more than a few fleeting seconds; no matter how good the special effects are, it's hard to get scared by anything that fluffy and white. As a result, yeti films have never been wildly popular, and Snowbeast is one of the weaker entries into an already tepid horror subgenre. ~ Fred Beldin, Rovi
  • With an ad campaign that promised far more than it could deliver, this stage-bound melodrama suffered from having been produced by Sam Efrus, a Poverty Row entrepreneur who never met a corner he wouldn't cut. Thus, both the shipwreck and the concluding car chase, inserted to add some much-needed production value, are of the grainy, non-matching stock footage kind so favored by companies like Peerless. House of Danger is actually not bad, it's just too reminiscent of a great many early sound thrillers from rival companies such as Monogram, Tiffany-Stahl, and Sono Art-World Wide. Director Charles Hutchison was a silent era serial star and not too adept at character delineation, but, happily, the veteran cast had done this sort of thing many times before and could pretty much take care of itself. Producer Efrus, incidentally, suffered the tort of having his name misspelled "Ferus" in the onscreen credits. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi

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