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A 19th century Polish soldier must guard a countess who may be the reincarnation of his late wife—and a werewolf to boot.
Another interesting film from the Severin folk horror box set, All Haunts Be Ours, Wilczyca was made by Polish filmmaker Marek Piestrak in 1983 when Poland was still firmly behind the Iron Curtain. Despite being made in the 80’s, it feels more like a 1960’s Hammer film, but it also has a decidedly Polish look and feel. Strong, dream-like imagery abounds, from a hawk picking out the eyes of a dead horse during the opening credits, to in-camera glowing spectral effects as the spirit of the dead woman continues to haunt her husband.
There’s also a mild exploitation feel to the movie, despite its lush filmic visuals—it’s not afraid to flash a little nudity here and there, or spill some of that hyper-red fake blood that we tend to associate with Italian giallo. The movie is a slow burner, often employing lingering shots of gorgeously bleak outdoor settings, and is more of an atmospheric werewolf film than a fast-paced monster movie. This movie was a huge hit in Poland, which is somewhat surprising considering its deliberate pacing, but it tells a strange and spooky tale that is at the same time familiar and feels like a discovery. It’s a werewolf movie with very few familiar werewolf tropes outside of a silver bullet.
The characters probably won’t be sympathetic to modern American audiences (I was often rooting for the animals more than the people), and those looking for a big effects-laden transformation scene will be frustrated—the wolf is more like an elusive ghostly animal than a humanoid monster. But those who like old fashioned horror, combined with a bit of European historical drama, will be rewarded. Oh, and there’s a bloody slow-mo finale that put me in the mind of Sam Peckinpah.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5
2-The Bye-Bye Man
....I watched this last night as a wind down from work...only because of the title, but this ended up being a mildly engaging viewing....a 2017 effort that has a twisted adaptation history...flunked at the box office, but made a modest profit....a Reaperish spin on the genre...."don't think it, don't say it"......
1. Beast (2022) 3,5
2. Nix (2022) 2,5
3. Safe House 1618 (2022) 3,5
4. The Wicker Man (1973) 5!
5. Suspiria (1977) 4,5
6. Rabid (1977) 3,5/5
7. Smile (2009) 3/5
8. Croc (2022) 3,5/5
9. Halloween (1978) 5/5
10. Halloween 2 (1981) 4/5 The first Halloween is IMHO simply the best slasher horror movie there is. John Carpenter really knew his shit!! Doesn't hurt to have Jamie Lee Curtis in the lead either. The second isn't as good but its very far from bad. I felt like it was time to see the classics of Halloween. Must see the original once a year. Its so darn good.
A con man’s daughter who is a true clairvoyant foretells the murder of a whistleblower at a chemical factory, and thus becomes the target of a hired corporate mercenary.
Directed in 1989 by Mike Hodges (Get Carter, Flash Gordon), Black Rainbow is very much a product of its times, with themes of corporate contract killers and environmental disaster, but it seems out of step with what was going on in the horror genre at the time. I think they were going for more of an “Angel Heart” vibe where the supernatural is combined with a more conventional thriller/mystery but weren’t entirely successful at either genre.
Still, there’s some things that work in Black Rainbow. I loved the dynamic between Jason Robards and Rosanna Arquette as the father/daughter team, butting heads as they balance showmanship with authenticity. They both feel like real, fully fleshed out characters, a supernatural con family version of Ryan and Tatum O’neal in Paper Moon. Robards character struggles with alcoholism and still hurts from his wife’s untimely death, while Arquette’s character seeks her father’s approval as she struggles with having one foot in the real world and one in the world of the dead. Bi-location is a major theme in the movie, and keeps the movie interesting and mysterious even when the more basic plot elements don’t.
Less successful was the casting of Tom Hulce (Amadeus) as a disingenuous journalist who can scarcely keep from smirking throughout the movie as he delivers a phony sounding southern accent. They really could have used someone who could match the magnetism of Arquette and Robards. He doesn’t quite ruin the movie, but it felt liked a missed opportunity.
Never quite enough supernaturalism to make this a true horror movie, and not enough thrills to make it a thriller, Black Rainbow is a bit of an oddity.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5
17. Black Rainbow 3/5
Two interconnected horror tales involving witches clashing with modern adult lives.
The first tale involves a pregnant woman who keeps seeing an old witch who has given her the evil eye, while her skeptical boyfriend believes she’s just experiencing what he sees as typical hormonal hysteria. When their new-agey friends try to use a Ouija board to see if there’s an evil presence involved, things get decidedly worse, resulting in a spectacularly bloody climax.
The second tale starts out something like Single White Female: an oddly free-spirited new roommate increasingly encroaches on a young woman’s life, her jealousies escalating when she comes into untold witchy powers. There’s a particularly cruel fate awaiting one of the characters, which I won’t spoil here, and we also see a surprise return of some of the characters and themes from the first tale.
Two Witches gets points for energy, if not always originality or the greatest acting chops. Some reviewers have complained about the number of jump scares, but honestly none of them were really scary, just sort of funny. Think of the manic energy of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead films, where things can go from zero to 11 very quickly. This isn’t a comedy, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously either, and can be darkly humorous between the scares. They aren’t afraid to spill the blood, either! Ultimately, there’s also a sense of something larger in scale being launched here, with certain elements hinted at and touched upon, and the wraparound story leaves no doubt that the story can continue onto a next level. I for one hope it does.
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5 (FTV)
17. Black Rainbow 3/5 (FTV)
18. Two Witches 3.5/5 (FTV)
A carnival gypsy hypnotizes local fun seekers, transforming them into an army of disfigured zombie henchmen.
The 1964 horror film for which director Ray Dennis Steckler is most infamous, “Strange Creatures” has often been called the worst movie ever made, but it’s not, by a long shot. Yes, there’s tons to make fun of: the ultra-low production quality, the hilariously bad acting, the special makeup effects that look like dried oatmeal, and the many random insertions of girly show music and dance numbers which were obviously only there to pad out the run time. This one has Mystery Science Theater written all over it, and if you like “so bad it’s good” movies, you’ll have plenty to sink your teeth into.
But really, how can this be the worst movie ever made when it’s so watchable and even occasionally intentionally entertaining? I can’t really say I ever got bored, there was just too much ridiculousness going on all the time, and you just can’t believe someone thought this stuff would be good enough to put in a movie. I appreciated the old-fashioned amusement park setting, (The Pike on Long Beach which was later demolished), so this feels like a real time capsule. The girly show music and dance numbers just take the lunacy to a different level, especially considering that they weren’t even rehearsed—choreography mistakes abound. Of course, the director himself stars in the movie (under the super cool stage name “Cash Flagg”), looking like a beady-eyed and balding Nicholas Cage.
This film is actually an early slasher, so there’s several instances of Psycho-like knife hacking, and the zombies are more the voodoo “do my bidding” type of zombies than they are rotting undead that George Romero would later invent. Sure, the movie is no Citizen Kane, but I’m still glad it exists--it's the kind you'll want to show your friends, or maybe your enemies!
2.5 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5 (FTV)
17. Black Rainbow 3/5 (FTV)
18. Two Witches 3.5/5 (FTV)
19. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies 2.5/5 (FTV)
i love this old series. I own them all, but discovered whole seasons on youtube for FREE!!
so ghouls and boys, if you are interested, free is excellent for this fun series of shorts.
5. Storm of the Century
6. Demonoid*
9. The Funhouse
11. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road*
17. The Uncanny*
A retired Guatemalan dictator and his family are literally haunted by wartime atrocities he committed forty years earlier.
There have been several relatively recent movies about the legend of La Llorona (which translates to “The crying woman”), a Hispanic-American myth that I was not familiar with before watching this movie. This is the 2019 Guatemalan version recently distributed as part of the Criterion Collection, not to be confused with the American-released “The Curse of La Llarona” (which I haven’t seen yet).
None of the traditional myth is directly explained in this movie, but from the context we learn that it has to do with a ghostly woman who is mourning her drowned children—in some instances drowned by herself, but possibly by another person during her life. In this movie it isn’t entirely clear whether the woman we are seeing is a ghost, as everyone can see her in daylight, and she is hired as an employee, but she begins having a strange, dreamlike effect on everyone in the household.
Unfortunately the woman isn’t even introduced until halfway through the movie, which up to that point mostly feels like a political family drama, and a not very sympathetic family at that. They are cluelessly wealthy and genuinely seem to not understand why the throngs of protestors outside want the former dictator to be held accountable for his actions. Aside from an unlikable cast, nearly every scene tends to linger far too long on one slowly zoomed-out shot, occasionally to an intended uncomfortable effect, but as a device it’s far too over-used in this movie. Stanley Kubrick already did lingering zoom-out shots far better than this in Barry Lyndon to give his movie a feeling of portraiture. In this movie, it just feels like dragged-out padding.
It's the dark and dreamy, surreal segments where La Llarona works best as a horror movie, when the tension that has been simmering is finally allowed to come to surface. The ending is particularly effective, as is a scene involving an overflowing bathtub. The movie looks and sounds fantastic, and I wanted to like it more, as it is obviously a high-quality production that reached for something great artistically. But ironically, for a movie that involves a drowning, it just never completely pulled me in.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5 (FTV)
17. Black Rainbow 3/5 (FTV)
18. Two Witches 3.5/5 (FTV)
19. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. La Llarona 3/5 (FTV)
“A family moves into their dream home, only to be plagued by ominous letters, strange neighbors and sinister threats.”
you will not get any satisfaction at the end of season one. Buyer beware.
5. Storm of the Century
6. Demonoid*
9. The Funhouse
11. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road*
17. The Uncanny*
20. The Watcher*
“Low on inspiration for his second book, a gloomy novelist agrees to write a memoir for a dying man — and swiftly becomes part of his bloodstained past.”
This is a very good french series. Twisty. Vintage feel when French new waveish style was the thing. Or still is the thing. Maybe someone can explain that better.
5. Storm of the Century
6. Demonoid*
9. The Funhouse
11. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road*
17. The Uncanny*
20. The Watcher*
not to be confused with American Horror Story.
same creators, but stories are individual tales not connected, while AHStory has a thru line plot.
5. Storm of the Century
6. Demonoid*
9. The Funhouse
11. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road*
17. The Uncanny*
20. The Watcher*
1. Beast (2022) 3,5
2. Nix (2022) 2,5
3. Safe House 1618 (2022) 3,5
4. The Wicker Man (1973) 5!
5. Suspiria (1977) 4,5
6. Rabid (1977) 3,5/5
7. Smile (2009) 3/5
8. Croc (2022) 3,5/5
9. Halloween (1978) 5/5
10. Halloween 2 (1981) 4/5
11. The Thing (1982) 4,5/5 Another great Carpenter Horror. Kurt Russell has never really been the greatest actor that ever lived but here he just fits. Great building of tension with nicely set scary spots until we get to the great finale.
12. The Birds (1963) 5/5 This is just so good. And i still think its amazing they managed all these bird effects in 1963. Tippi Hedren, Jessica Candy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright and Rod Taylor are no bad actors either. And Hitchcock knows how to get the best from actors. A bit different than the likewise very good short story by Daphne de Maurier. The script is written by Evan Hunter (also known as Ed McBain, author of the 87,th district crime novels) and he was told by hitchcock to invent some new characters while keeping the basic story.
“A doctor and his wife purchase a dilapidated mansion but are unaware of the darkness lurking within. They try turn it from a house of the devil into a drug-rehabilitation centre.”
so many recognizable faces! Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet and Victor Buono as — The Devil.
Splits, crotch grab, point finger in air and pump it real good.
5. Storm of the Century
6. Demonoid*
9. The Funhouse
11. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road*
17. The Uncanny*
20. The Watcher*
Two children and their babysitter watch a VHS tape they received while trick-or-treating. It contains three tales of terror, but their babysitter thinks there might be something more sinister going on.
Fans of the Terrifier franchise will be pleased with this 2013 horror anthology by Damien Leone, as this is where the now iconic Art the Clown makes his debut. Stylistically the emphasis is mostly retro, although they don’t commit to any one era. One segment was more reminiscent of grainy-filmed 1970’s horror, one had a more 80’s straight-to-VHS feel, and the wraparound story was firmly in the 2000’s.
The first segment starts with an effectively creepy Art the clown segment, but devolves into Satanists in the sewer. The second segment was the least effective—it started out like a traditional “woman alone in the house during a power outage” segment, but the “monster” reveal was so ridiculous, it ruined any possible further tension. Blame the low budget costuming.
The third segment was the best, combining elements of The Hitcher and “the woman traveling at night alone” trope, along with a survival horror type ending. And the wraparound story was surprisingly good; for a segment that’s usually an afterthought, it had some of the most effective scares. Although man, were those kids bratty. Does every movie sibling rivalry have to be so annoying?
As with all anthologies, this is a mixed bag, but there’s enough good stuff and gore here to get the job done.
3 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5 (FTV)
17. Black Rainbow 3/5 (FTV)
18. Two Witches 3.5/5 (FTV)
19. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. La Llarona 3/5 (FTV)
21. All Hallows’ Eve 3/5 (FTV)
“In a remote region of the Bering Sea, a boat salvage crew discovers the eerie remains of a grand passenger liner thought lost for more than 40 years. But once onboard the eerie, cavernous ship, the crew of the Arctic Warrior discovers that the decaying vessel is anything but deserted. It's home to something more deadly and horrific than anything they've encountered in all their years at sea.“
almost everyone I know dislikes this movie. I love it. I love everything about it.
5. Storm of the Century
6. Demonoid*
9. The Funhouse
11. Incident On and Off a Mountain Road*
17. The Uncanny*
20. The Watcher*
1. Beast (2022) 3,5
2. Nix (2022) 2,5
3. Safe House 1618 (2022) 3,5
4. The Wicker Man (1973) 5!
5. Suspiria (1977) 4,5
6. Rabid (1977) 3,5/5
7. Smile (2009) 3/5
8. Croc (2022) 3,5/5
9. Halloween (1978) 5/5
10. Halloween 2 (1981) 4/5
11. The Thing (1982) 4,5/5
12. The Birds (1963) 5/5
13. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) 5/5 OK, perhaps not the scariest of movies but one of the weirdest most likeable movies i've seen. Add great performances from Tim Curry, Richard O'Brien, Susan Sarandon (her first big role i think), Meatloaf, Patricia Quinn, Barry Bostwick and Little Nell to a great score and you have yourself a hit. I have seen some live performances of this too but the movie holds up i think.
1. Beast (2022) 3,5
2. Nix (2022) 2,5
3. Safe House 1618 (2022) 3,5
4. The Wicker Man (1973) 5!
5. Suspiria (1977) 4,5
6. Rabid (1977) 3,5/5
7. Smile (2009) 3/5
8. Croc (2022) 3,5/5
9. Halloween (1978) 5/5
10. Halloween 2 (1981) 4/5
11. The Thing (1982) 4,5/5
12. The Birds (1963) 5/5
13. Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) 5/5
14. When Worlds Collide (1951) 3/5 This one of the more well known B- SF movies that is built upon a 1933 novel. A big planet is on collision course with Earth! Some of the effects are rather dated, understandingly so, but some still has an impact. Astronomers warn the earth, the earth first ridicules them but a millionaire help the astronomers build a ship to carry a few select to a new place to live. Not very original new and better books than the 1933 one has been written on the theme but the 1933 one is still one of the first to use it. Barbara Rush and Richard Derr play the Hero couple and Larry Keating play the head astronomer. Hadn't seen this one before.
Taiwanese film where a virus turns people into depraved bloodthirsty killers.
This ultra-violent, gory horror film is not for everyone, with the most generous use of fake blood I’ve seen outside of “Dead Alive” (aka Braindead). In addition, these aren’t really zombies, they are not brainless rotting dead people. Instead, they are people whose violent and sadistic and sexual tendencies get dialed up to insane levels: essentially, these are the worst possible versions of people. They talk and reason and know what they are doing, they may even realize what they are doing is wrong, but they are powerless to stop themselves. This takes The Sadness into different and more intriguing territory than other modern large-scale zombie films.
As with most zombie/pandemic movies, things start out normal but we see inklings of trouble ahead, then suddenly blood spills and we’re off to the races. The tension isn’t always escalated in a linear progression, we are instead given a series of scenes, some of which are more intense than others (hard to top that subway scene) but at every turn we learn a little more about the capabilities of these maniacs. There is quite a big information dump scene at the end that probably could have been told in a less clunky manner, but it is more aiming to be psychologically unsettling rather than trying to top the visceral visuals that led up to the climax.
Although certainly not a comedy, there are many dark comic moments sprinkled throughout the film. If you want to, you can easily find allegories into our more recent real life socio-political pandemic situations, or you can just sit back and watch the blood explode across the screen, I won’t judge.
4 out of 5 stars.
Bob's October 2022 Horror Movie List
*FTV denotes first-time viewings
1. The Black Phone 3.5/5 (FTV)
2. The Mummy (2017) 3/5 (FTV)
3. The Anchoress 3/5 (FTV)
4. Antlers 4/5 (FTV)
5. Burn, Witch, Burn 3/5 (FTV)
6. Lamb 3/5 (FTV)
7. Alligator 3.5/5 (FTV)
8. Barbarian 4/5 (FTV)
9. Orphan 3.5/5 (FTV)
10. Terrifier 2 4/5 (FTV)
11. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 2.5/5 (FTV)
12. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 3.5/5 (FTV)
13. The Uncanny 3/5 (FTV)
14. Baghead 3.5/5 (FTV)
15. House On Haunted Hill (1959) 4.5/5
16. Wilczyca (aka She-Wolf) 3.5/5 (FTV)
17. Black Rainbow 3/5 (FTV)
18. Two Witches 3.5/5 (FTV)
19. The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies 2.5/5 (FTV)
20. La Llarona 3/5 (FTV)
21. All Hallows’ Eve 3/5 (FTV)
22. The Sadness 4/5 (FTV)