Monday 8 July 2013

Bad Ronald, Torso, Happy Birthday

 Bad Ronald - ★★★★☆

        Cool film about a kid who gets walled up in his home after killing a girl by accident, but when a new family moves in he slowly loses his mind to the fictional world he created. he winds up stalking the family through the walls. Check it out.



Here's the Trailer! 

Torso - ★★★☆☆

         Tits and gore nuff said.








Here's the Trailer!
Happy Birthday to Me! - ★★★★☆

          This movie could have been a classic. the only problem I found with it was its run time was a bit long. There were definitely some creative kills, this movie was a lot of fun. Check it out if you have nothing else to do.

Here's the Trailer!

Wednesday 12 June 2013

The Funhouse (1981)

★★★★☆
Elizabeth Berridge, Shawn Carson, Jeanne Austin
Universal Pictures
Color, 96 min
Here's the Trailer
The Funhouse 
        Tobe Hooper returns to the big screen with The Funhouse. Four rebellious teens hide in a "Funhouse" for the night, only to find a half cow half human creature kill the local carnival's psychic. The four teens then have to get out of the funhouse before its too late.  
        This movie came out somewhere between Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Poltergeist. Though it isn't as good, it holds it's own in the big world of horror. Rick Baker designed the creature for the film and I gotta say It works.
         My favorite part in the film I'll admit is the cows. They got two real cows, one has a cleft palate and the other has TWO FREAKING HEADS! This wouldn't have been the highlight if it weren't for the untold story. That the creature may have been the love child of the 2 headed cow and Conrad the Carnival manager. 

          Watch this moo-vie I dairy you!

Sorry about that
Street Meat
         

Sunday 7 April 2013

The Giant Gila Monster (1959)

★★☆☆☆
Don Sullivan, Lisa Simone, Fred Graham
Hollywood Pictures Corp
Black and White, 74 min
Here's the Trailer
The Giant Gila Monster 
       Let's just get that out of the way, this is a terrible film. The cameras shoddy, the scenes bland and the monster himself is just a lizard put on a miniature set. In it's defence though I like terrible films
      The characters or relatable and Chase comes across as pretty genuine in some scenes. The cars are beautiful and the story...we'll the story is pretty standard. (just like the cars)
       This is definitely no King Kong but if you want a lighthearted monster movie from the 50's with some sweet rides this is the flick to pick.
                                           Street Meat

Friday 8 February 2013

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Part 2 (1941)

★★★☆☆
Spencer Tracy
MGM
Black and White, 113 mins
Here's the Transformation!
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 
Two Faces, Two Movies 

     The very first thing I noticed when I threw this movie in was the fact that it was produced by MGM, were as the other film from only 10 years past was produced by Paramount. 
     Spencer Tracy this time portrays Dr. Jekyll and does so convincingly I still prefer the Fredric March version. There's just something so honest about his portrayal. 
     What both these films have in common is the story they are almost scene for scene, from the scene were Dr. Jekyll saves Ivy to the marriage troubles which is odd because if I can remember correctly the book had no love interests at all,  that was added into the story for a stage adaptation in the 19th century. 
     Really what let this film down for me though was Mr. Hyde. He was just nowhere near as dark and twisted looking as his 1931 counterpart, I even read somewhere that they covered his face during the trailer in fear that people would laugh at it.   
        Overall these two films are both charming in they're own right I love the 1931 adaptation for Fredric March, but at the same time I preferred the Ivy Character when it was played by Ingrid Bergman. These films are both available on a Classic Double Feature Disk that runs for about 40 to 60 bucks. I was lucky and found the dvd I watched at the local library.  

Street Meat

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Part 1 (1931)

★★★★☆
Fredric March
Paramount
Black and White, 98 mins
Here's the Transformation!
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 
Two Faces, Two Movies

    We're going to do a double take, the 1931 Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and then the 1941 one of the same name.
    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson and published in 1886, it's the tale about what would happen if you could split the good and the evil with a potion and let your dormant evil side take its own form.
    Fredric March is great in this film, he comes across natural as a nice guy with a little bit of mayhem inside ready to explode. The transformation sequences are top shop, I heard he wore different layers of makeup that would show only when certain lights were on, giving it that slow change that we see on the screen. I also really enjoyed the P.O.V shots and how they did showed him looking at himself in a mirror. This film is ambitious to say the least, not to mention this is actually the only version of this story where they pronounce Jekyll's name right (Jee-Kal)
    Mr. Hyde is really the star of this show, he's so off-putting  He also shows a great deal of acrobatics that caught me off guard (the scene were he swings down the staircase in particular). Over all this is a great film and it should not be missed. If you call yourself a fan of classic horror, this is a must own for your collection.
 Street Meat

Monday 4 February 2013

Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)

★★★☆☆
James Cagney, Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer
Universal
Black and White, 122 mins
Here's the Trailer!

Man of a Thousand Faces 
     So I decided to go to the public library the other day and lo and behold I return with this. I knew I was going to love it. How could you hate anything about Lon Chaney? Phantom of the opera is one of my favorite stories and his 1925 silent version is my favorite interpretation of it.
      Cagney plays Chaney and tells the loosely based tale of his Lon Chaney's rise to fame. I'm not going to lie they're remake of Quasimodo and the Phantom's face were lacking, they looked just like masks (which is what they were).
      This being said the story is still wonderfully told. the characters are charming and it ends with you wanting to watch all of his films.
     Definitely check this out if you got some time. 
                   
                                                         Street Meat

Monday 28 January 2013

Castle Freak (1995)

★★★☆☆
Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton
Full Moon Enterprise
Color, 95 mins
Here's the Trailer!
Castle Freak
   Castle Freak is about a unconventional family inheriting a beautiful mansion only to find out its home to a bloodthirsty deformed being. Jeffrey Combs is the father who's been sober for 9 months after getting into a accident that kills his son. Which Barbara Crampton (the wife) hasn't let him forget. They have a daughter who was also in the car crash and was left blinded.
   Before seeing this film I had watched Re-Animator and From Beyond. I must say this is not like either of those films, this one is much darker and feels more realistic.
   The makeup effects in this film are just awesome. The Freak is just so well designed. There's one scene where he bites and rips off his thumb so he can escape from the shackles.
   This is a must watch for anyone looking for a good 90's horror film or are just a fan of Stuart Gordon's work