Posts

Showing posts from April, 2010

The Terror at Miskatonic Falls (Book Trailer)

Image
This is the awesome book trailer for the upcoming horror anthology I will be part of entitled, The Terror at Miskatonic Falls from Shroud Publishing . (Picture is a rough sketch of the cover, being worked on by Steven Gilberts)

Horror of the Zombies (1974)

Image
I hate rainy, dreary days because it keeps my daughters stuck inside the house. To pass some time (when I had a small window, I ventured into the cheesy Drive-In Classics Box Set for something a bit different. I chose Horror of the Zombies ( El buque maldito ), being in an undead mood. This 1974 version of devil worshipping undead Knights Templar seemed like just the ticket. Plot/ Two models are stranded in a motor cruiser in the middle of the ocean. It's only meant to be a publicity stunt, a way of stirring up interest in the boat itself; but they soon prove to be in real trouble. They're set upon by a 16th century galleon enshrouded by a fog. They each board the ghost ship, and each one disappears. Soon, the sporting goods magnate who hired the two girls sets out to find them. He is joined by his conniving right-hand man; the head of the modeling agency; a third model who is a lover to one of the missing girls; and a scientist from the weather bureau who is c

Trip With The Teacher (1975)

Image
After watching the end of the NFL Draft (yes, I am a football fanatic), it was time to enjoy the quiet I had with my family out on a Girl Scouts field trip. What a better way to do that than to exjoy some 1970s exploitation flicks. Luckily, I didn't have to dig too deep as the Gorehouse Greats Collection sports just the thing, with the 1975 grindhouse-style entry Trip With The Teacher . Plot/ A pretty young teacher and four of her pretty students take a minibus to some Navajo ruins, little suspecting another kind of ruin awaits. A trio of bikers begin to flirt with the gals, and when their bus breaks down, they helpfully tow the vehicle to a deserted shack. The chief biker, Al, chews up the scenery, kills folks, and rips off the teacher's clothes before raping her. Let me start by saying, like many films of this genre Trip With The Teacher isn't for everyone. This minor exploitation entry has its moments and at times creates a forboding feeling that is never

Nightmare City (1980)

Image
With the NFL Draft in full swing, it was time for a break in watching to find out what my favorite team did. With a few hours before bed last night, I watched the 1980 Italian zombie flick, Nightmare City ( Incubo sulla città contaminata ). Honestly, I forgot I had it in my collection as it was part of a set my daughters bought me for my birthday last year. Plot/ In a nameless European city, a local reporter and his doctor wife try to escape from hordes of blood thirsty zombies, undead people exposed to nuclear radioactivity, while the military leaders fight a losing war of attrition against the relentless atomic zombies. Wow, so nice to be back into my zombie comfort zone and Nightmare City is a great example of what makes Italian Zombie films awesome. This movie, while dealing with an interesting storyline, really remains a solid entry toward the end of that movie era. This film has a diverse combination of of special effects, gore, blood and scripting that is pul

Satan's Slave (1976)

Image
After taking a break for a few days, I was dying to watch something in the horror genre again. With that in mind, I jumped back into the Gorehouse Greats Collection that my mother picked up for me. Having watched (and reviewed) three or four of the films already, I figured it was time to finish that set (although, I will not watch Prime Evil again!). After some debate, I decided on Satan's Slave , a 1976 British entry in to this set. Plot/ On her way to a relaxing vacation at her uncle's isolated country mansion, a young woman is instead tortured and terrorized by her uncle and cousin, who unbeknownest to her, are disciples of Satan. Soon, she discovers that she can trust no one and even people she thought were dead comes back to haunt her. I was pleasantly surprised by this film, as it is actually one of the better British Horror films from the late 1970s that doesn't seem to get the awknowledgement it deserves. Yes, the story line is a bit run-of-the-

Offspring (2009)

Image
After spending the past few weeks in either killer doll or vampires, I decided that it was time for something different. So when I was searching FearNet and found Offspring , about flesh eating feral children, I was all in. Could there be a better change of pace? Plot/ Offspring based on the book by Jack Ketchum tells the story of a young group of Feral Children who somehow manage to hide in caves and avoid detection while making dinner of locals in various towns as they move from town to town on the coast. After a run in with the flesh-eaters, two women strive to survive their abduction by the cannibals and save their children. There is a lot to like about this movie. Yes, the storyline isn't the greatest, but there is something there that really made it interesting. To be honest, I have never read a Jack Ketchum novel, and after seeing this, I may want to. The acting, direction and cinematography were excellant, with a definite feel throughout, especiall

Servants of Twilight (1991)

Image
After spending most of the past couple of days dealing with a family medical issue, it was nice to get back to something interesting; diving into a late-night movie on FearNet. My evening selection was the 1991 adaption of Dean Kootz's Servants of Twilight, a book I read more than a few yars ago and a subject that always makes me smile. Plot/ Based on the novel by Dean R. Koontz , this action packed thriller features Bruce Greenwood as a private detective hired to protect a little boy from a fanatical religious cult that believe he is the antichrist fortold in the book of Revelations. Having read the book years ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. Yes, it does vary from the original literary workm but it does work and is a pretty good thriller (although, I may be biased because I love movie that deal with the antichrist). In all, I would have loved to have seen the movie done with a larger budget, the material is definitely better than the cash sp