Category Archives: Horrorthon

Horror Film Review: Old (dir by M. Night Shyamalan)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

An odd film, Old.

Seriously, 2019’s Old is so odd that I feel the need to point out repeatedly just how strange it is.  As I watched the film, I respected it’s dedication to being odd but, at the same time, I was a bit surprised that it was directed by M. Night Shyamalan.  For all of the fame that he’s gained for his twist endings and his suspenseful films, Shyamalan has always aspired to being a member of the Hollywood mainstream.  As such, his films are usually twisty without being transgressive.  He’s usually careful about alienating the audience.

But then, he makes something like Old, which features a group of people going to the beach and aging a year every 30 minutes.  This group includes middle-aged people (and wow, are they ever in trouble) but it also includes young children who quickly become teenager and then quickly become adults and, by the end of the film, are middle-aged and walking around in ill-fitting swim suits.  Along the way, there’s a 10-minute pregnancy, a baby that only lives for a few seconds because it’s aging too quickly, and a blood infection that kills within seconds.  Eyesight and hearing fades.  Bones snap.  Bodies quickly decay.  Aging sucks.

It’s not a happy film at all.  Yes, the movie does end with a minor victory but it still leaves the remaining characters in a sort of mental and emotional limbo, the type that you know they’re never going to escape.  The majority of the characters die and often, they die graphically and painfully.  Under normal circumstances, they would have died over the course of several years and, at the very least, people would have time to grieve in between.  On the cursed beach of Old, people die one after the other and there’s no time to grieve.  Two character do manage to make some sort of peace with themselves before they age to death but the majority of the characters go out railing against that dark night.  One of the most disturbing things about the film is that the characters have no control over what is happening to them.  Even when they try to leave the beach, they pass out and reawaken on the sand, a few years older.  I guess it’s like life.  There is no escape and there’s no way to prevent getting older.  Some will age well and live a full life.  Others will randomly get sick and die and, in the end, there’s no way to control which will be which.

Seriously, that’s depressing!  I’m not used to M. Night Shyamalan being that depressing!  But then I discovered that this movie was based on a French-language graphic novel and it all made sense.

The people on the beach are played by a talented group of actors, with several different performers playing the rapidly aging children over the course of the film.  Rufus Sewell gives a good performance as a surgeon who cracks under the pressure.  I was happy to see one of my favorite actors, Ken Leung, on the beach but I wasn’t particularly happy with what happened to his character.

It’s a strange film.  Say what you will about Shyamalan and his career has definitely been uneven, he can still deliver when he has the right material.

Horror Film Review: The Raven (dir by Roger Corman)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Shall I ever see the rare and radiant Lenore again?” — Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Prince)

“How they Hell should I know?” — Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre)

This exchange comes from Roger Corman’s 1963 film, The Raven, and it pretty much epitomizes the film.  Very loosely based on the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven was one of the many Poe adaptations that Corman did with Vincent Price.  As opposed to the other films in Corman’s Poe cycle, The Raven was a flat-out comedy, one that parodied the other films in the cycle.  Reportedly, Peter Lorre improvised his response to Vincent Price’s question about Lenore.  In fact, Lorre improvised a good deal of his performance and his jokes sometimes even took Corman by surprise.  As a result and despite the fact that Richard Matheson did write a script for the film, The Raven is one of those films that feels like it was made up while the camera was rolling.

The Raven is a film about three sorcerers who are always fighting and arguing with each other.  Dr. Erasmus Craven (Vincent Price) spends his time mourning the late Lenore.  The evil Dr. Scarabus (a frail-looking Boris Karloff) has his own castle where he lives with the ghost of the late Lenore (Hazel Court).  Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre) is a sarcastic ne’er-do-well who saw Lenore in Scarabus’s castle and was transformed into a talking raven as a result.

In raven form, Dr. Bedlo flies over to Craven’s castle and convinces Craven to transform him back into human form.  After informing Craven that Scarabus has Lenore’s ghost in his castle, the heart-broken Craven decides to head over to Scarabus’s castle and get some answers.  Accompanying the group is Craven’s daughter, Estelle (Olive Sturgess) and Bedlo’s son, Rexford (Jack Nicholson, looking somewhat lost in the role of a boring young man).

At the castle, Scarabus puts on an act of being a friendly and gracious host but the opposite soon turns out to be true.  In fact, the entire castle is full of secrets and it quickly turns out that hardly anyone — with the exception of Estelle and Rexford — are who they actually claim to be.  It leads to a battle in magic between Craven and Scarabus.  I nearly described their battle as being “epic” but that’s probably not the right world.  It’s epic by the standards of Roger Corman but actually, the big battle is just as jokey as the rest of the film.

The Raven is definitely not a film that’s meant to be taken seriously.  One gets the feeling that Corman knew that the presence of Price, Karloff, and Lorre would make the film a success no matter what the film was like so he decided to have some fun with it.  (Price and definitely Lorre appear to have been in on the joke while Karloff was perhaps a bit less so.)  To be honest, the film’s only earnest moments come courtesy of Oliva Sturgess and Jack Nicholson but, because Nicholson is Nicholson, you watch those earnest moments waiting for Rexford to arch an eyebrow or flash that devilish grin.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t.  Jack is pretty boring here.

The Raven, if we’re going to be honest, is probably too jokey for its own good but it’s still hard to resist the charm of Price, Lorre, and Karloff.  The film is a chance to see three horror icons acting opposite each other and, as a result, it’s a fun film for horror fans.  Vincent Price breaks the fourth wall at the end of the film and it’s hard not to love it.

Horror On The Lens: Messiah of Evil (dir by Willard Huyck)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

MOE Mariana HillWith only five days left until Halloween, I wanted to make sure that I continued an important tradition here at the Shattered Lens by sharing this film with our faithful and wonderful readers.  Messiah of Evil was first released in 1973 and, since it’s in the public domain, it has since been included in a countless number of bargain box sets from Mill Creek.

I can still remember the first time that I saw Messiah of Evil.  It was on a Monday night, many years ago.  I had recently picked up a 10-movie DVD box set called Tales of Terror and I was using the movies inside to try to deal with a bout of insomnia.  I had already watched The Hatchet Murders (a.k,a. Deep Red) and The House At The Edge of the Park and, at two in the morning, I was faced with a decision.  Should I try to sleep or should I watch one more movie?

Naturally, I chose to watch one more movie and the movie I chose was Messiah of Evil.  So, there I was at two in the morning, sitting at the edge of my bed in my underwear and watching an obscure horror movie while rain fell outside.

And, seriously — this movie totally FREAKED me out!

Messiah of Evil tells the story of Arletty (Marianna Hill), a neurotic woman who drives to an isolated California town in order to visit her father.  Her father is an artist who specializes in painting eerie pictures of large groups of black-clad people.  However, once she arrives at his home, Arletty discovers that her father has vanished and left behind a diary where he claims that a darkness has overtaken the town.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Thom (Michael Greer) is wandering about town with two groupies (played by Anita Ford and Joy Bang) and interviewing random townspeople.  One crazed man (Elisha Cook, Jr.) explains that “the dark stranger” is returning.  After meeting Arletty, they all end up moving into her father’s house.

But that’s not all.   There’s also an odd albino man who shows up driving truck and who eats mice….

Messiah of Evil is literally one of the strangest films that I’ve ever seen.  It’s shot in a dream-like fashion and the much of the film is left open to the viewer’s interpretation.  There are two classic scenes — one that takes place in a super market and one that takes place in a movie theater and the movie’s worth watching for these two scenes alone.

Messiah of Evil is a film that will be appreciated by all lovers of surrealism and intelligent horror and I’m happy to share it with you today.

Horror On TV: The Hitchhiker 6.6 “Toxic Search” (dir by Jerry Ciccoritti)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Tonight’s episode of The Hitchhiker features two friends who get into a fight over whether or not its ethical to dump toxic waste near a small town.  Unfortunately, exposure to the toxic waste leads to madness.  This episode features a good performance from Zach Galligan as the polluter who learns the errors of his way.

This episode aired on October 26th, 1990.

Big Freakin’ Snake (2023, directed by Dustin Ferguson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

People are being killed in snake attacks across Los Angeles and the sheriff and a scientist are determined to discover why.  The Sheriff says that there hasn’t been a snake attack in over 40 years.  His father dealt with the last batch of attacks.  Now, it’s time for the new sheriff to pick up his father’s legacy and discover why people are dying from snake attack.

Could it be because of the big freakin’ snake!?

Nah, son, that snake’s not that big.

There actually is a big snake at the start of the movie, which slithers its way through Los Angeles and wraps itself around a building but most of the movie is just scenes of people screaming at normal sized snakes that don’t appear to actually be aggressive.  A lot of familiar B-horror folk show up to get bitten but the special effects budget only allowed for one actual snake attack to really be shown.  If you’ve ever wanted to watch Brinke Stevens fight a rubber snake in a bathtub, this film is for you.

Big Freakin’ Snake is short, only 40 minutes long, and it is obviously not meant to be taken seriously so I can’t criticize it too much.  But for a movie called Big Freakin’ Snake, it sure didn’t have many big snakes.

Retro Television Review: Jennifer Slept Here 1.4 “Boo”

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Jennifer Slept Here, which aired on NBC in 1983 and 1984.  The entire show is currently streaming on YouTube!

This week, Debbie Reynolds drops by!

Episode 1.4 “Boo”

(Dir by John Bowab, originally aired on November 11th, 1983)

This week’s episode of Jennifer Slept Here opens with Jennifer tormenting Joey while he tries to make a snack.  Whenever Joey tries to grab a bowl and a box of cereal, Jennifer materializes and says, “Boo!”  I guess when you’re a ghost, you have to find a way to pass the time.  Seriously, though, Joey acts like he’s about to have a heart attack every time that he sees Jennifer.  He should be used to her by now.

In other words — STOP BEING SUCH A WIMP, JOEY!

Joey is upset because he’s stuck at home while his parents take his little sister to a costume party but then Marc shows up with two twins (played by Jacqueline and Samantha Forrest).  The twins seem to like Joey and Marc but again, Joey can’t leave the house.  Jennifer suggests to Joey that he suggest that they just have a party at the house.  Joey follows Jennifer’s advice and it turns out that the twins really want to have a …. séance!

Joey is totally excited because he has his own ghost!  However, Jennifer informs him that she doesn’t want to perform like a trained seal so he’s going to have to figure out his own way to party with the twins.  Suddenly, the studio audience goes wild as Debbie Reynolds materializes in Joey’s bedroom.  It turns out that Debbie Reynolds is playing Jennifer’s mother, who is also a ghost.  Jennifer’s mom has spent 24 years searching for Jennifer.  Why?  Because she’s still upset over the fact that Jennifer didn’t thank her when she won a Golden Globe.  Jennifer’s mother has tracked down her daughter so that she can demand to be given credit for her daughter’s career!

(Really?  It’s just a Golden Globe.)

Jennifer and her mother argue over whether or not Jennifer has ever given her mother enough credit.  Jennifer’s mother eventually announces that she’s leaving and proceeds to walk through a wall.  Desperate for her mother to return, Jennifer asks Joey to perform a …. wait for it …. a séance!  Joey gets Jennifer to agree to help him to impress the twins in return for him trying to contact her mother.

At the séance, Marc says they should contact Jennifer’s mother but Joey is like, “Let’s contact her mother!”  As it storms outside, Jennifer does things like forcing everyone to keep their hands on table and causing candles to float around the living room.  It scares and impresses the twins and they suggest a trip to their place where they have a hot tub.  But Jennifer tells Joey that he can’t leave because the séance isn’t over.  Realizing that Jennifer is right, Joey says he can’t go to the hot tub because he has to clean up the house.

“Joey,” Marc announces, “I don’t know what’s wrong with but someday, it’s going to keep you out of the army.”

Okay, 80s TV show, way to be cringey there.

Anyway, Jennifer’s Mother does eventually appear and Joey gets to go hot tubbing with the twins while Jennifer and her mom work on their relationship in the living room.  And I have to say that, after a really silly 19-minute build-up, the final scene between Ann Jillian and Debbie Reynolds was actually very sweet and touching, perhaps more so than you would expect from a sitcom about a ghost and her dorky teenage roommate.

This episode did not get off to a great start but that final scene between Ann Jillian and Debbie Reynolds saved it.  The show definitely worked best when it focused more on Jennifer and less on the people who lived with her.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Donald Pleasence in Halloween 4

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Donald Pleasence was born in the UK in 1919, the son of a railway station manager.  Pleasence briefly tried to follow in his father’s footsteps before, at the age of 20, realizing that he would much rather be a professional actor.  With his intense demeanor, Pleasence soon became an in-demand character actor and remained one for the rest of his life, only taking a break from acting when he served in World War II.  (A devout Methodist, Pleasence originally registered as a conscientious objector but changed his stance once the Blitz began.)   When he was taken prisoners by the Germans and sent to a POW camp, he organized plays among his fellow prisoners as a way to keep everyone’s spirits up as they waited for the war to end.

Pleasence’s experience as a POW led to him being cast in The Great Escape.  His ability to play villains led to him being cast as the original Blofeld in You Only Live Twice.  He appeared in classic horror films like Death Line and Wake In Fright.  In 1978, he was offered the role of Dr. Loomis in Halloween, after it had been turned down by both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.  Pleasence played Loomis with a righteous intensity that seemed to grow a bit more unhinged with each subsequent sequel.  Though he was, by his own admission, not a huge fan of the genre, Pleasence became a horror icon to a whole new generation of film goers.

1998’s Halloween 4 does not have a great reputation but it does have one of my favorite Loomis scenes.  In this scene, a hitchhiking Dr. Loomis is picked up by an old man (Carmen Filipi) who is on a mission of his own.  It’s hard not to regret that these two didn’t get their own spin-off.