Category Archives: Horror

The Devil’s Mistress (1965, directed by Orville Wanzer)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In the Old West, four outlaws are trying to keep one step ahead of the posse when they comes across an isolated cabin sitting the middle of nowhere.  The oldest of the outlaws say that they should stay away from the cabin because it is too far away from civilization and whoever lives there is trying to hide something.  He is outvoted by the other outlaws, who are hungry and hoping the cabin will have some food.

It turns out that cabin belongs to a bearded man who claims to be a pilgrim of some sort.  He lives with his mute wife.  He welcomes the men and gives them food.  Two of the outlaws repay him by murdering him and then raping his wife.  They decide to take the wife with them as they make their way to Mexico.  The wife silently follows but the men soon start to die, one-by-one.  Are the men unlucky or is the woman they kidnapped somehow causing it all to happen?  Given the film’s title, it’s not hard to guess.

The Devil’s Mistress is a mico-budget, independently-produced mix of the western and horror genres.  The film looks cheap and the actors playing the outlaws are all pretty inexpressive but Joan Stapleton’s otherworldly beauty is perfect for the role of the abducted woman who turns out to be far more clever and dangerous than the outlaws assumed.  With a good deal of philosophical dialogue about life, death, and guilt, the film has a lot more on its mind than the average indie western, with each outlaw forced to confront their own mortality as they are punished for their sins.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Megalon

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For today’s Horror Scene That I Love, let’s take a minute or two to show some respect to one of the world’s greatest (and longest-lived) film stars, Godzilla!  Whether he’s attacking humanity as the literal representation of atomic age anxiety or if he’s saving Earth from a bunch of aliens, Godzilla has always been a superstar.

In this scene from 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla shows just how much of a star he is by taking a stand against bullying and saving his friend, Jet Jaguar.  In this scene, Godzilla shows that he was an anti-bullying activist even before it was cool.  Megalon and his friend thought they could just taunt poor old Jet Jaguar.  Not as long as Godzilla’s around!

October True Crime: House on The Hill (dir by Jeffrey Frentzen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

2012’s House on the Hill is loosely based on the true story of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, two of the worst serial killers to ever haunt California.

Two former Marines who met after Ng placed an advertisement in a survivalist magazine, Lake and Ng lived together on an isolated tract of land.  Underneath their cabin, they constructed a dungeon.  Over the next year, they murdered a countless number of people in their dungeon and buried their remains.  Lake and Ng killed anyone they came across, including several people who had previously been friends of Lake’s.  (Ng apparently didn’t have any friends to kill.)  Though they were officially accused of committing eleven murders, it’s felt that the number was probably much higher.  The two of them videotaped their crimes.  Ng kept a detailed and graphic journal in which he gloated about all of the people who he had killed.  Lake made videos in which he explained his philosophy and expounded on why he felt that he deserved a slave.  Eventually, Lake committed suicide after he was arrested on a shop lifting charge.  Ng fled to Canada but was eventually sent back to the United States.  He currently sits on California’s inactive death row.

In the film, Sonia (Naidra Dawn Thompson) is visited at her home by Paul (Kevin McCloskey), a detective.  Paul explains that he knows that Sonia was the only survivor of Ng and Lake’s rampage.  She survived by being the slave that Leonard Lake desired, filming Ng and Lake’s crimes.  Paul wants to know if Sonia remembers one of Lake and Ng’s victims, a woman named Karianna (Shannon Leade).  Paul says that his clients want to know the circumstances that led to Karianna’s death.  After some hesitation, Sonia tells Paul about her experiences as Lake and Ng’s prisoner.  The film is a mix of black-and-white scenes involving Paul and Sonia and color flashbacks to the crimes of Lake (Stephen A.F. Day) and Ng (Sam Leung).  While Sonia and Karianna are both fictional, the audience is shown footage of the real Leonard Lake, talking about his “philosophy” of life.

At first, it feels a bit tasteless to include the actual footage of the real Leonard Lake but, by the end of the film, I was glad that it had been included because, physically, the real-life Leonard Lake and Charles Ng were both considerably less attractive than the actors who played them in the film.  This is especially true of Charles Ng.  The real life Ng was pudgy and nerdy.  Sam Leung, on the other hand, is undeniably handsome and muscular.  Meanwhile, Stephen A.F. Day has the looks and manner of a friendly social worker so it was good to have actual footage of Lake so that the audience could see that, in real life, Leonard Lake was an overweight, loser incel whose spoke like someone who was desperately trying to convince the listener that he was smarter than he actually was.  (Leonard Lake was the type to stumble over any word that had more than one syllable.)  Probably the best thing that a serial killer film can do is remind the audience that most killers are not erudite and clever.  They’re not Hannibal Lecter.  Instead, they’re losers who are striking out at a world in which they have no hope of succeeding.

As for the film itself, it does capture the horror of being trapped but it’s hard not to feel that it made a mistake by focusing on the fictional Sonia and her conversation with Paul.  Indeed, by having the film narrated by a fictional character who managed to escape, the film does a disservice to to the real victims who weren’t so lucky.  With all of the flashbacks and flashforwards, the narrative itself feels too jumbled to really tell us anything about how or why Lake and Ng not only committed their crimes but how they managed to get away with it for over a year.  In the end, the scariest thing about Lake and Ng is that, if not for that one shoplifting incident, their reign of terror could have continued uninterrupted for even longer than it did.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Roger Corman Edition

Posted on 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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

This October, I am going to be using our 4 Shots From 4 Films feature to pay tribute to some of my favorite horror directors, in alphabetical order!  That’s right, we’re going from Argento to Zombie in one month!

Today’s director is one of the most influential figures in American film history, the one and only Roger Corman!

4 Shots From 4 Roger Corman Films

Not of this Earth (1957, dir by Roger Corman, DP: John Mescall)

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Archie R. Dalzell)

X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Floyd Crosby)

The Masque of Red Death (1964, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Nicolas Roeg)

Horror Film Review: Hounded (dir by Tommy Boulding)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this British film from 2022, Leon (Nobuse Junior) is the head of a crew of thieves.  Yes, he spends his time breaking into people’s houses and stealing their stuff but the film insists that he’s not that bad.  He’s just trying to raise the money to send his younger brother, Chaz (Malachi Pullar-Latchman) to a university.  Working with the two brothers are the perpetually angry Vix (Hannah Traylen) and the perpetually religious Todd (Ross Coles).  To be honest, none of the really seem like they should be hanging out together but I guess crime makes for unexpected partnerships.  Still, you really do have to wonder in what world would Vix and Todd even say “hi” to one another, let alone work together as a part of a burglary crew?

An antique dealer (Larry Lamb) hires the crew to beak into the estate of the Katherine Redwick (Samantha Bond, best-known for playing Ms. Moneypenny in the Timothy Dalton Bond films) and steal a valuable ceremonial knife.  Unfortunately, it turns out that it’s all a set up and soon, the four thieves are being chased across the estate by Katherine and her family.  If the thieves can make it back to civilization, they’ll be safe.  If they can’t, then they’ll have to face the ceremonial knife.  Yes, they’re playing a most dangerous game, with Count Zaroff’s isolated island being replaced by a posh British country estate.  The film is called Hounded because, just as in a fox hunt, the Redwicks use dogs to chase down their prey.  The dogs are cute and fear not, no harm comes to them.  This is a 2022 film and everyone knows better than to harm a dog.  The humans on the other hand….

There’s a lot of class struggle commentary to be found in Hounded.  The thieves are all working class and angry about not being given the same opportunities as the rich.  The Redwicks are so posh and refined that they basically come across as Monty Python-style caricatures.  They may be hunting people for sport but they’re very polite and proper about it and Katharine spends a lot of time talking about how the Redwicks always hunt with honor.  Unfortunately, while Samantha Bond is entertaining as the main villain, the rest of the characters are not particularly memorable and some of the actors playing the thieves give performances are downright embarrassing.  As such, you never really care much about whether the thieves are going to escape or if the Renwicks are going to face justice.  All you care about is whether or not the dogs are going to be okay.  If your film is going to feature a lot of scare scenes featuring dogs, try not to cast cute Dalmatians.  Seriously, I found myself rooting for the dogs because I knew that, no matter what they did, they would be adorable while doing it.

For the most part, Hounded is a predictable film.  It’s short but it seems much longer.  The version of The Most Dangerous Game just isn’t dangerous enough.

Horror on the Lens: Mesa of Lost Women (dir by Herbert Tevos and Ron Ormond)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s Horror on the Lens is the infamous 1953 film, Mesa of Lost Women.  Off in the middle of the desert, Dr. Aranya (Jackie Coogan) is conducting dangerous experiments that are resulting not only in giant spiders but also a master race of superwomen who Aranya is planning to use to conquer the world or something.

Mesa of Lost Women is a bit of a disjointed film.  It was originally filmed by a German director named Herbert Tevos, who claimed to be an associate of Erich Von Stroheim’s and a former collaborator of Marlene Dietrich’s.  However, despite his claims of being well-connected, no one was particularly impressed with Tevos’s first cut of the film so Ron Ormond was brought in to film additional scenes, the majority of them featuring Jackie Coogan as the insane Dr. Aranya.  Jackie Coogan was, at the time, still best-known for playing The Kid in the Charlie Chaplin film of the same name.  After Mesa, he would go on to play Uncle Fester on the original Addams Family.

Anyway, Mesa of Lost Women is one of those B-movies that simply has to be seen and heard to be believed.  (Lyle Talbot provides the narration, which is judgmental even by the standards of the 1950s.)  Enjoy Mesa of Lost Women!

Music Video of the Day: Preacher Man by Fields of Nephilim (1987, directed by Richard Stanley)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

A cemetery, an atomic wasteland, a chainsaw, a preacher with a bunch of mutant worshippers, it doesn’t get more 80s gothic than this.

Director Richard Stanley directed several gothic music videos but he’s best-known for his feature films, including Hardware and Dust Devil.  (In many ways, the video for Preacher Man feels like a dry run for both Hardware and Dust Devil.)  He was also the original director of the infamous The Island of Dr. Moreau until his conflicts with both the studios and actors Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer led to him being replaced by John Frankenheimer.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Hitchhiker 5.3 “Dark Wishes” (dir by John Liang)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of The Hitchhiker, a nurse (Tammy Lauren) decides that the best way to win the husband of her patient is to indulge in a little black magic.  Needless to say, things don’t go quite as planned.  And yes, The Hitchhiker definitely has something to say about it!

Seriously, I would so freak out if I ever saw The Hitchhiker commenting on anything that I’ve ever done in my life.  “Lisa Marie Bowman thought she could escape real-life horror by writing about fictional horror.  But sometimes, that which we think is fiction, turns out to be real….”  AGCK!

This episode originally aired on July 1st, 1989.

October Hacks: Blood Theatre (dir by Rick Sloane)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I have watched my share of not-good films but, as I sit here typing this, it’s hard for me to think of anything quite as mind-numbingly bad as 1984’s Blood Theatre.

Blood Theatre is a horror film without scares and a comedy without laughs.  It starts at some point in the past, when a lovelorn movie theater owner (played, as a young man, by David Milbern) has a nervous breakdown upon discovering that the ticket girl doesn’t love him.  So, he stabs her to death and then sets the theater on fire, killing the majority of the patrons inside.  Years later, Mr. Murdock (Rob-Roy Fletcher) decides to increase his chain of Starlite Theaters by purchasing the old theater.  He sends three of his employees over to get the place in shape.  What he doesn’t stop to consider is that the theater owner (now played, as an old man, by Jonathan Blakely) is still haunting the old theater and killing anyone who shows up.  Is the owner a ghost or a human killer?  The film never quite makes up its mind, as sometimes he appears to have control of electricity and time and space and other times, he’s just an old geezer with a knife.

But the motives of the killer really aren’t that important because, oddly enough, he’s not really in the much of the film.  Instead, the majority of the film is a broad comedy about the people working at the theater, none of whom are particularly funny or even likable.  Selena (Joanna Foxx) gets mad when someone fails to pay for their popcorn so, for some reason, she follows them into theater and rips of her bra in front of them.  I’m not really sure how that is supposed to get back at them for not paying for their popcorn but it does lead to a riot in the theater as everyone demands that she sit down so that they can enjoy the movie.  Amazingly, this somehow does not lead to Selena getting fired but instead, she and her friend Darcy (Stephanie Dillard) are transferred to the new theater, much to the irritation of their co-worker, cheerleader Jennifer (Jenny Cunningham).  Jennifer, Selena, and Darcy are all supposed to be in high school but they also all appear to be in their 30s.

Mary Woronov is also in this film.  She’s totally wasted in the role of Murdock’s administrative assistant.  She spends the entire movie answering the phone in the office and rolling her eyes and then making sarcastic comments about the fact that Murdock has gone to a theater owner’s convention but he hasn’t returned yet because he’s been mugged.  For reasons that aren’t really clear, she hates Murdock and she hates everyone that she works with but then again, no one in this movie seems to like anyone else.  Everyone in this movie dislikes everyone else and, as a result, it’s not as if any of the people are particularly pleasant to hang out with.

This is one of those comedies where every joke is repeated ad nauseum, to the point where it becomes impossible to watch the film without wanting to throw something at the screen.  It would help, of course, if the jokes were funny but none of them are.  It would also help if there was a shred of charisma to be found in the cast but, with the exception of Mary Woronov, everyone delivers their lines stiffly and without personality.  Clocking in at 75 minutes but feeling much, much longer, Blood Theatre is one of the most incredibly dull films that I’ve ever seen.  This is the slasher film that answers the question, “Just how bad can these films get?”