Posted by Classic Horror on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 Although there are still more films of his that I haven't seen
than I have as of this writing (I'm catching up, though), when
someone mentions Italian horror, the first name that I
usually think of is Mario Bava. I've consistently enjoyed Bava's films more than his Italian competitors - Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Ruggero Deodato, etc. - and Baron Blood
is no exception. Although I like his competitor... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 With all the revolutions in the film industry in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, many of the older film monsters were starting to appear
cliché, even trite. Dracula, long the enemy of Victorian standards,
needed to be updated for a time when such standards had long passed.
Leave it to pop artist/film producer Andy Warhol and director Paul
Morrissey to do this by flipping the rules around and making Dracula the
pathetic victim of permissive social mores. Dracula (Udo Kier),
low on virg... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 Originally titled Macchie Solari (Sunspots), and retitled Autopsy
by its American distributors, Armando Crispino's giallo
has long been available on video, but little seen by the
American audience. Anchor Bay's recent restoration and re-release
on DVD and video has again brought this film to back into the
spotlight, revealing a taught, beautiful, and grisly
giallo. A wave of solar activity (hence the Italian titl... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 This very low budget German zombie movie, although not a Troma movie, combines elements of my two favorite Troma videos. It takes the cheese and over the top gore of Redneck Zombies and pairs it with the side-splitting dubbing style of Ferocious Female Freedom Fighters. What results is a fun, cheap, intensely gory and sophomorically hilarious zombie romp. The
story, well sir, I guess there was a story. Okay, a military
... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 If you're
familiar with the works of Edgar Allan Poe, you know that amongst his most
prominent themes is that of the past's ability to terrorize you. The three
loosely adapted Poe stories in Spirits of the Dead - "Metzengerstein," "William
Wilson," and "Never Bet the Devil your Head" - are about exactly that.
Though they are each helmed by a different director, the continuity and quality
that flow through them are perfectly consistent, creating an experience that is
well-told, layered, and ... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 In an era of mainstream PG-13 horror, it's thrilling to delve back
into the European erotic horror films of the 60s and 70s - films that
gained their reputations by offering highly provocative images, if often
at the expense of story. One of the most controversial filmmakers in
this vein is Jean Rollin, best known for a series of surrealist vampire
films that began with Le Viol du vampire (The Rape of the Vampire,
1968). In their best moments, these films offer images and scenarios
w... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 Anthologies, movies that are composed of a series of short films, are
always hard to characterize. If the film is considered as a whole, does
a particularly bad sequence besmirch the merit of the others? Or does a
well-shot segment bolster one that's floundering? Considering each
segment individually also presents certain challenges, particularly if
each segment was directed by the same person, or starred the same
actors. How do you explain trends in performances or cinematography, or
... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 It’s impossible to get a bead on Juan Lopez Moctezuma’s Alucarda.
There are no clear-cut heroes or villains; nearly every character seems
monstrous at one point or another. The film hops from one protagonist
to the next, condemning each in turn. A dichotomy between reason and the
supernatural, standard to many horror films, is established, and then
banished. Scenes that would seem to be filtered through the subjective
viewpoints of the characters are then presented as objective even... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 "Nine killed her; nine shall die! Eight have died, soon to be nine.
Nine eternities in doom!" If that sort of beautifully over-the-top line
doesn't bring warmth to your heart, you might as well turn back now. You
will not enjoy The Abominable Dr. Phibes, a brilliant piece of moody, camp horror from 1971. You will not bask in the glory of Phibes's
twisted wonderland of murder and revenge. However, if you can feel
the cockles of your heart stirring with anticipation, you are in for a
beau... Continue reading...
Posted by willy pratiwiharja on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 In : Movie Reviews
 Baron Victor Frankenstein was the archetypal aristocrat, well-read,
cultured and arrogant. Beyond the sophisticated veneer existed a cruel,
utterly unscrupulous man, obsessed with ambition. Determined to realise
his greatest dream to create life, he had assembled a creature from
organs gathered from various unwilling donors. The creature is
successful brought to life but the instability of the brain, damaged
during surgery, causes uncontrollable violent spasms that result in
indiscrimi... Continue reading...
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