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6. The Kiss of the Vampire (FTV)
A newlywed couple stranded in turn of the century Bavaria find hospitality at a lavish but worn-down estate, not realizing the new bride is being groomed for initiation into their vampire cult.
This 1963 Hammer Films effort is their first vampire film without Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing, but it still manages to kindle some of the old vampire magic. The movie is bursting with color, especially reds, and there's a great opening sequence involving a staking at a funeral service. Hammer films always have great music and atmosphere, and this film is no exception, and although the plot is thin and familiar, the film never really drags. The acting is excellent and the women are lovely, although the head vampire is pretty lightweight and had me wishing they could have gotten Christopher Lee.
Comparisons to previous superior Hammer vampire films kept this from being a 4-star movie, as well as a ridiculous and unintentionally hilarious finale featuring a mass attack of flimsy paper and string bats that looked like they were purchased off the shelf at Woolworth. My guess is that funding had run out by the time they filmed the climactic scene, or it was tacked on by a studio head who should have known better. Ruinous ending aside, I enjoyed the movie.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2020 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Viy (1967) 4/5 (FTV)
2. Night Visitor 3/5 (FTV)
3. Tigers Are Not Afraid 5/5 (FTV)
4. I Trapped the Devil 4/5 (FTV)
5. Vivarium 3/5 (FTV)
6. The Kiss of the Vampire 3/5 (FTV)
cat said: I haven't seen the movie but you have me intrigued. I'll have to seek this out.
Oh man. This is exactly what you expect from 1958. Every movie afraid of the bomb and radiation. And this time, people are dying around an air base that is nuclear powered. Of course, this all started with some damn scientist d*ckin' around with science.
When they get to the bodies of the people dying in the neighborhood, the brains and spinal cords are missing. The whole movie, the creatures are invisible. We don't know what they are until about the last 10 minutes. After taking over the nuclear reactor, the creatures dial up the power and become visible. And they are the missing brains and spinal cords of all the dead people. I loved these brain guys! And when they were in the final battle and the brains got shot, they oozed and dripped some of the best ooze/drip in the biz.
Really terrible film, but I did get a kick out of the last 10 minutes. I wish the brains won. I'd like to see what exactly their goal was. Continue the lives they had when they were in a body? Mainlining radiation and socializing, maybe getting married and having baby brains? Going to work, standing around the water cooler to talk about the latest episode of Gunsmoke? Where's that movie? I want to see that movie.
1. Ghost Stories*
2. American Murder*
3. Christmas Evil*
4. Vault of Horror
5. The Green Slime*
6. The Blue Elephant 2*
7. Theatre of Blood
8. Ghost Ship
9. Deathdream*
10. Fiend Without a Face*
I thought this was the Maniac that Eli Roth talks to Stephen King about in his AMC's History of Horror. He gave Stephen some Maniac mask.
Well, that's a big no. There must be another Maniac movie.
This one was about a mad scientist who is trying to raise the dead. His ding dong lab helper kills him and then assumes the doc's identity because he just happened to be a vaudeville impersonator before getting steady employment in medicine.
He starts treating people, shoots up some poor slob with drugs and the guy goes insane, kidnaps a girl and rapes her. The guy's wife who brought him in for treatment discovers the real doc's body and blackmails impersonator doc. There is a cat-breeder named Goof who breeds cats for their fur. And there's a showgirl ex-wife of the vaudeville/new doc guy who comes looking for him because he's inherited a fortune. A girl fight happens between ex-wife and blackmail broad and it all gets wrapped up with a very Poe ending.
While all of this is happening, we would get periodic scrolling placards to read about insanity and mania and phobias and, sheesh, I don't know, probably yeast infections. I sort of lost focus.
Confused? Yeah. Me too. Oh my lord. There was everything in this. They just threw everything in. And it was only 51 minutes long and had a budget of 5,000.
In looking for the trailer for this, I found like 4 other movies titled Maniac. Which Maniac did Stephen and Eli like? Click on link if you want to see the trailer.
https://www.imdb.com/video/vi380371225?playlistId=tt0025465&ref_=tt_ov_vi
1. Ghost Stories*
2. American Murder*
3. Christmas Evil*
4. Vault of Horror
5. The Green Slime*
6. The Blue Elephant 2*
7. Theatre of Blood
8. Ghost Ship
9. Deathdream*
10. Fiend Without a Face*
11. Maniac* 1934
Classic! Still love this movie.
And, I see a season two of History of Horror is going to drop on AMC this weekend! I have my recorder set!
7. The Invisible Man (2020) (FTV)
Modern retelling of the Universal Studios classic is told from the perspective of a wife trying to escape an abusive relationship with the titular character.
As much as I love the original 1933 Invisible Man character, he never could quite stack up against true monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. He seemed more like a demented prankster than something to be feared. I'm pleased to say this modern adaptation brings the fear back--I've never seen a scarier version of The Invisible Man.
Much of the appeal of the original classic came from the impressive (for their time) visual effects, but this modern adaptation wisely avoids shoving tons of CGI-laden effects down our throats and instead does a lot with sound and camera movement, putting the audience into the movie and making us imagine what might be there. We don't get bogged down in the science but the emotional experience. This is also the rare modern horror film that gives us characters we feel for, thanks to an amazing performance by Elisabeth Moss, which is fortunate because she's in nearly every frame of the film. By cleverly combining the Invisible Man story with a spousal abuse story, the stakes are much higher and the tension more palpable. In addition, the film explores less outré notions, such as whether one can truly ever escape an abusive past, even when the abuser is no longer around.
This film's run at the box office was unfortunately cut short by the pandemic, keeping it from getting much buzz from the general public, but even if you don't like horror, it is a quite accessible and very entertaining thriller. Just be prepared for some serious tension.
4 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2020 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. Viy (1967) 4/5 (FTV)
2. Night Visitor 3/5 (FTV)
3. Tigers Are Not Afraid 5/5 (FTV)
4. I Trapped the Devil 4/5 (FTV)
5. Vivarium 3/5 (FTV)
6. The Kiss of the Vampire 3/5 (FTV)
7. The Invisible Man (2020) 4/5 (FTV)
This is a Hulu entry starring a good cast but most notably for me is Anna Friel, Marcella.
Very slick looking, nicely done. It was pretty good. I like anthology type horror stories and all the stories were intertwined in a believable way.
1. Ghost Stories*
2. American Murder*
3. Christmas Evil*
4. Vault of Horror
5. The Green Slime*
6. The Blue Elephant 2*
7. Theatre of Blood
8. Ghost Ship
9. Deathdream*
10. Fiend Without a Face*
11. Maniac* 1934
12. Books of Blood*
One of those locked room movies. Which I love.
It's pretty typical figure-things-out-before-you-die! stuff, but I still enjoyed this one even though I have seen other similar movies.
1. Ghost Stories*
2. American Murder*
3. Christmas Evil*
4. Vault of Horror
5. The Green Slime*
6. The Blue Elephant 2*
7. Theatre of Blood
8. Ghost Ship
9. Deathdream*
10. Fiend Without a Face*
11. Maniac* 1934
12. Books of Blood*
13. Escape Room*
I'm going to label this a new view, but the ending sort of tugged at me like I had seen it before. But I had to get clear to the ending to feel that. Maybe I've seen something similar that gave me déjà vu.
Totally 1970s fare, it's about a group of men who go into an old mine and guess what happens? Yep. Someone's arm gets eaten.
When a cave-in traps them, 2 weeks go by and they are hungry. So they draw straws and the loser has to give up his arm. Not without a lot of argument and crying. One of the men just happens to be a doctor, so the loser at least has the skill of an actual doctor sawing his arm off.
No sooner had they said bon appétit, they get rescued. The explanation was that the doctor had to amputate his arm after the cave-in crushed it.
Of course, one-armed Ted is unhappy, and hospitalized. The whiny bastard should count his blessings, it was a fair straw draw and he could've ended up like Timothy. I mean, where on earth did he go? God why don't we know? We do know! He got all 'et up. Ted just lost an arm. Man up, Ted!
Well, time passes and the mine guys one by one start getting their arms chopped off. Some of the men live, some die -- and they can't go to the police and rat out Ted who they believe is getting revenge.
It's really not a bad little story. Horribly bad 70s movie, but I think they could remake this and it could be chilling.
1. Ghost Stories*
2. American Murder*
3. Christmas Evil*
4. Vault of Horror
5. The Green Slime*
6. The Blue Elephant 2*
7. Theatre of Blood
8. Ghost Ship
9. Deathdream*
10. Fiend Without a Face*
11. Maniac* 1934
12. Books of Blood*
13. Escape Room*
14. The Severed Arm*