Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft (1998, directed by Elisar Elisar Cabrera)

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Jedadiah Leland

In the tenth entry in the ludicrously long-running Witchcraft series, conflicted warlock Will Spanner does not appear. Fortunately, it’s not because he’s dead again. Instead, it’s just because Will lives in New York and Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft takes place in London.

Instead, Witchcraft X focuses on Detective Lucy Lutz (Stephanie Beaton, returning to the role after playing it in the previous film). Focusing on Detective Lutz actually makes sense, just because Stephanie Beaton was one of the better actresses to regularly appear in direct-to-video horror movies and she was also probably the main reason why many people were watching the Witchcraft films to begin with. It certainly wasn’t for the special effects or the plots.

In this film, Detective Lutz has been summoned to London because a cult leader named Hyde (Kerry Knowlton) has been arrested by Interpol. Hyde is wanted for a series of murders in Los Angeles and the London police cannot wait to send him back to the United States where he’ll be executed for sure. (Jokes on them. California has one of the slowest death rows in the country.) But before Hyde can be sent back to L.A., they need to fly Lutz over so she can brief them on Hyde’s crimes. I guess email was still a luxury in 1998.

No sooner has Lutz arrived than a vampire named Raven (Eileen Daly) is breaking Hyde out of custody so that Hyde can help her conduct one of those occult ceremonies that every single Witchcraft film seems to revolve around. Raven has an army of frequently naked female vampires to help her out. Lutz only has Interpol agent Chris Dixon (Sean Harry) and paranormal expert Celeste (Wendy Cooper) to help her out.

I liked that this movie tried to do something different with the franchise without totally abandoning the characters. Even though neither Will nor Garner appears in Witchcraft X, they’re mentioned by Lutz so it’s not like Witchcraft VIII where Will’s existence was totally ignored. Detective Lutz is a good heroine and Stephanie Beaton is an appealing actress. I also liked that the film took place in London and that, like Witchcraft VII, it involved vampires instead of the usual shady warlocks. The dialogue is really clunky, none of the other actors are as good as Beaton, and the film looks like it was shot with a camcorder and then edited by someone using a VCR but that’s pretty much par for course for a Witchcraft film.

It’s easy to imagine the Witchcraft series going forward with just Detective Lutz as the lead character. That didn’t happen, though. Will Spanner would return for Witchcraft XI.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Tor Johnson vs Richard Carlson in Behind Locked Doors

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Tor Johnson’s birthday, I wanted to share a scene from Plan 9 From Outer Space or Bride of the Monster or even the Beast of Yucca Flats.

Unfortunately, YouTube would not cooperate. I found a lot of tribute videos that people had done. I found several videos of Tor playing Lobo with silly music playing in the background. There were a lot of weird Tor/Bela tribute videos. (Apparently, there’s a very active community of Lobo/Varnoff shippers, which was not something that I really needed to know.) Anyway, try as I did, I couldn’t find any decent videos of just Tor walking into a wall or rising from the dead of reaching for the bunny in Beast of Yucca Flats.

However, I did find this clip from a film in which Tor Johnson appeared in 1948. Apparently, Behind Locked Doors was noir about a detective who goes undercover at a sanitarium. One of the other patients at the sanitarium? TOR JOHNSON!

So, enjoy this chance to see Tor Johnson in a scene not directed by Ed Wood or Coleman Francis. (The scene was directed by Budd Boetticher, who has a far different critical reputation that both Misters Wood and Francis.)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Tor Johnson Edition

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today is Tor Johnson’s birthday so it just seems appropriate to present….

4 Shots From 4 Tor Johnson Films

Bride of The Monster (1955, dir by Ed Wood)

Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959, dir by Ed Wood)

Night of the Ghouls (1960, dir by Ed Wood)

The Beast from Yucca Flats (1961, dir by Coleman Francis)

Horror On The Lens: Invasion of the Saucer Men (dir by Edward Cahn)

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The poster above pretty much epitomizes everything that I love about old B-movies. Between the aliens and the poster’s promise that we’re being given the chance to “SEE (the) night the world nearly ended…!,” it’s hard to resist the temptation to give Invasion of the Saucer Men a chance.

First released in 1957, Invasion of the Saucer Men is, in many ways, a standard alien invasion film. Aliens land in a small town and cause a lot of inconvenience for a bunch of all-American teenagers who are just looking for a place to make out. What sets Invasion of the Saucer Men apart is that it’s meant to intentionally humorous and the aliens totally kick ass.

So, here is today’s edition of Horror On The Lens: Invasion of the Saucer Men!

Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh (1997, directed Michael Paul Girard)

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Jedadiah Leland

Will Spanner (played, for a second time, by David Byrnes) returns in Witchcraft IX!

Will is still the son of a warlock, he’s still dead, and his girlfriend is still named Kelli (she’s played, this time, by Leah Kourtne Ballantine) but otherwise, the continuity of the entire franchise gets seriously twisted in Witchcraft IX. Witchcraft VII ended up with Will dead and everyone knowing that Will was dead. This was followed by Witchcraft VIII, which was a stand-alone film about a different warlock. Witchcraft IX then begins with no one knowing that Will is dead and an imposter Will living with Kelli and regularly choking her during sex. Will’s ghost roams the city, trying to get anyone to listen to him. Though Will was clean-shaven when he died, ghost Will has a beard.

While Will is trying to find someone who can hear him, Detective Lutz (Stephanie Beaton) and Garner (Mikul Robins) are investigating yet another series of ritualistic homicides. This time, the homicides are connected to an Egyptian cult as opposed to a Satanic one. Usually, Lutz and Garner would turn to Will for help but, because imposter Will is a jerk, they don’t want anything more to do with him. Of course, in Witchcraft VII, Lutz and Garner saw Will die but apparently, they’ve forgotten about that and think that he’s still alive. See how confusing this is?

Will finally does find someone who can hear his voice. She’s a prostitute named Sheila (Landon Hall) and soon, Will is using her to deliver messages to Lutz, Garner, and Kelli. He even enters her body at one point. Witchcraft IX is basically a softcore version of Ghost, with an Egyptian cult thrown in for good measure.

Whatever other flaws they may have had, the previous Witchcraft films all did try to maintain a recognizable continuity. That’s what made them stand out when compared to other direct-to-video franchises. Even though the actors changed, Will always remained the same character with the same problems. In Witchcraft IX, all of that continuity gets tossed out the window. The one emotionally effective moment of the entire franchise, Will dying and being mourned by everyone who cared for him, is retconned into nothing.

Witchcraft IX suffers from its low budget and its impossible to follow plot but Landon Hall and Stephanie Beaton are surprisingly good as Sheila and Lutz and David Byrnes is a passable hero. Though Will does come back to life at the end of this one, he would still be absent in the next film. In Witchcraft X, Detective Lutz would finally get a story all of her own.

Horror Scenes I Love: Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz have dinner in Nosferatu

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Nosferatu (1979, dir by Werner Herzog)

Since today is Klaus Kinksi’s birthday, it makes sense that he should be featured in today’s scene of the day. In this scene from Werner Herzog’s 1979 film, Nosferatu, Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz have dinner. Of course, in this scenario, Bruno Ganz is Jonathan Harker while Kinski is Dracula.

(In the original, silent Nosferatu, Harker’s name was changed to Thomas Hutter while Dracula was called Count Orlok. By the time Herzog shot his version, the characters were in the public domain and there was no longer any need to pretend that Nosferatu wasn’t an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel.)

Enjoy!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Klaus Kinski Edition

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

94 years ago today, the infamous but incredibly talented Klaus Kisnki was born. Though Kinski appeared in many genres of film, he was an actor who seemed to be well-suited for horror films. Today, we honor that legacy with….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Aguirre The Wrath of God (1972, dir by Werner Herzog)

Nosferatu (1979, dir by Werner Herzog)

Crawlspace (1986, dir by David Schmoeller)

Nosferatu in Venice (1988, dir by Augusto Caminito and Klaus Kinski)

Horror On The Lens: The House On Haunted Hill (dir by William Castle)

Posted on October 18, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The original The House on Haunted Hill is a classic and one that we make it a point to share every Halloween. And since October is halfway over, now seems like the perfect time to do so!

Be sure to check out Gary’s review by clicking here!

Enjoy Vincent Price at his best!

Here’s The Trailer For Dead Reckoning

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Let’s end this day with one last trailer.

This is the trailer for Dead Reckoning. The trailer looks low budget and kind of predictable but that explosion at the end had to have cost some money, right? Anyway, this film looks very melodramatic and very silly and very over the top and I imagine I’ll probably love it for exactly those reasons.

Here’s the trailer:

Here’s The Trailer for The Empty Man!

Posted on October 17, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Empty Man is an upcoming horror film about a spirit that is vengeful because …. well, it’s empty, I guess. I mean, I guess that would make me angry too. No one wants to be shallow.

Anyway, here’s the trailer. How many clichés can you count?