The Woman in Black (2012)
Creepy and off-putting, The Woman in Black really is a terrific thriller. It’s intended to shock, and in many scenes it is successful. It’s a moody, psychologically scarring throwback to the old Roger Corman movies based on Edgar Allan Poe…
Let Me In (2010)
Let Me In is an emotionally wrenching film. My opinion/review is for this film, not the original. Hopefully you know that the gist of the movie is about a lonely boy who is bullied at school and then a young…
Hands of the Ripper (1971)
Hands of The Ripper is a well made but slow-paced 1971 offering from Hammer. Some nice acting from Eric Porter and Angharad Rees offers some compensation for a rather lugubrious tale of Jack The Ripper’s daughter, who, when subjected to…
Saying No To Hollywood
Hollywood by its nature, not only eats its young but possesses little loyalty for people that have done them a great service. It is definitely a “what have you done for me lately” attitude. There are no favors in Hollywood….
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
In 1934, during the boom of British cinema, businessman William Hinds, decided to enter the industry and create his own film company, “Hammer Productions Ltd.”, where he would produce several movies before being forced into bankruptcy due to the end…
The Abominable Snowman (1957)
Hammer studios made a variety of films for many years before they struck gold with horror movies. One of their first steps in that direction was ‘The Quatermass Xperiment’, directed by Val Guest and written by Nigel Kneale who adapted…
Countess Dracula (1971)
The story of Elizabeth Bathory is easily one of the most important for the horror genre, and there’s no studio more qualified to tackle said story than the legendary Hammer studios…but unfortunately, the resulting film is not as great as…
X the Unknown (1956)
This early offering from the studio that would go on to become the greatest force horror would ever see lacks the vibrant colours and pseudo-Gothic style that would go on to epitomise their later output, but it retains the British…
The Viking Queen (1967)
During the height of the breasts-on-display, low-budget-epic era in the mid-60’s, Murray got off at the wrong “Bus Stop” and wound up flailing around in this sword and sandal howler. He plays the Roman ruler of a Celtic tribe in…
The Witches (1966)
The Witches, which is much better known in America by its US release title The Devil’s Own, is one of those legendary films made great because the supporting actress completely upstages the star. (Think Grayson Hall in Night of the…
To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
“To The Devil A Daughter” of 1976 is on of the last films from the great Hammer studios, and, as it seems, it was a disappointment to many of my fellow Hammer fans. For understandable reasons, since this is the…
The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Very cool Hammer film from the great Terence Fisher with Christopher Lee playing the good guy for a change. Lee plays the Duc de Richleau who, along with his friend Rex Van Ryn (Leon Greene), rescues a late friend’s son…
The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964)
A great title, but THE DEVIL-SHIP PIRATES is not one of Hammer’s best films – or, indeed, one of its best swashbuckler films. It’s a singularly slow paced production that feels slightly lethargic, despite lots of incident in the plot…
Prehistoric Women (1967)
In 1966, Hammer studios gave the world its cave-girl classic One Million Years B.C., which featured a bevy of fur bikini-clad beauties, including the pneumatic Raquel Welch and the lissom Martine Beswick. The next year, obviously unwilling to consign a…
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Andre Morell’s character, Dr. Forbes, makes a very unusual house call at the opening of “The Plague of the Zombies.” His old student, now practicing in a small (Victorian era) Cornish village, is mystified by the recent outbreak of deaths…
Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
This film is not your usual sci-fi monster from the deep or outer space but a story based on comprehensible logic – the suggestion that the human mind and it’s psychic and sixth sense qualities was the result of alien…
Message from Space (1978)
Reminded me a lot of Battle Beyond the Stars. Same Seven Samuraiish structure, where valiant warriors from all walks of life are thrown together by fate to defend the peaceful townsfolk from the marauding intruders. (‘Liabe Gods pick robots too’)….
Shifting Sands: A Hollywood Titan Retreats
One of the dangers this industry has is that it has a tendency to forget about the realities it is facing when a blockbuster like The Avengers hits. For two or three weeks, after a release of a comic book…
Tales of Frankenstein
Synopsis: Based upon four of writer-director Donald F. Glut’s short stories published in his book TALES OF FRANKENSTEIN: “My Creation, My Beloved” (a deformed descendant of Victor Frankenstein creates the perfect man and woman), “Crawler from the Grave” (another Frankenstein…
Naked Paradise (1957)
Gangster Zac Cotton and his two henchmen, Mitch and Sonny, try to get a boat to get off a tropical island after a botched robbery heist.Duke Bradley’s boat is hired to sail a group to the Hawaiian Islands. His passengers…