Category Archives: Horrorthon

4 Shots From 4 Ken Russell Films: The Devils, Crimes of Passion, Gothic, The Lair of the White Worm

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 lets the visuals do the talking!

This October, we’re using this feature to recognize and honor some of our favorite horror directors!  Today, we honor the legendary Ken Russell!

4 Shots from 4 Films

The Devils (1971, dir by Ken Russell)

Crimes of Passion (1984, dir by Ken Russell)

Gothic (1986, dir by Ken Russell)

The Lair of the White Worm (1988, dir by Ken Russell)

 

 

Horror Film Review: Host (dir by Rob Savage)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Host tells the story of the Zoom meeting from Hell.

Actually, that description is a case of me being a bit too glib.  Though this hour-long film, which can currently be viewed on Shudder, has received a lot of attention for its Zoom call format, there’s a good deal more going on in Host.  It’s the first film of the COVID-19 era and, when this era finally ends, it’s a film that will remind viewers of what it was like to be locked down and afraid that, even behind closed door and with a mask ready to go, there was truly no escape from the virus.

Host is a British film about six friends, one psychic medium, and one very destructive spirit.  Locked down due to COVID, the friends have weekly Zoom meetings.  Some of them drink wine during the meetings.  One of them smokes a good deal of weed.  The important thing that they’re staying in contact and not allowing the separation to drive them apart.  As so many others have done over the course of 2020, they’ve tried to find some sort of normalcy in a situation that is anything but.  Even though the viewer only spends an hour with these characters, it’s impossible not to relate to what they’re going through.

For this week’s meeting, a medium named Seylan (Seylan Baxter) had been hired to lead the friends in an online séance.  Everyone has a different reaction to Seylan, which I liked.  Jemma (Jemma Moore) seems to be struggling not to laugh as Seylan tells everyone to light their candles.  (I related to Jemma, as I probably would have had the same reaction.)  Emma (Emma Louise Webb) and Caroline (Caroline Ward) are both obviously taking the séance a bit more seriously and are concerned about what will happen when they contact the other side.  Haley (Haley Bishop) tries to keep the group focused while Radina (Radina Drandova) and Teddy (Edward Linard) deal with interruptions from their significant others.

Well, needless to say, the séance doesn’t exactly lead to the best of results.  That doesn’t count as a spoiler because first off, this film is on Shudder and secondly, since when has it ever been a good idea to try to contact the dead?  If there’s anything that I’ve learned from the movies, it’s that the dead are extremely touchy and prone to violence.

Host makes great use of its format.  Every time someone drops out of the meeting, we’re left to wonder if they’ve just temporarily lost their connection or if they’ve been attacked by something from beyond.  When we watch the interaction between the six friends — who feel like a group of real friends, though I don’t know how well everyone knew each other before production began — we find ourselves constantly looking over everyone’s shoulder, searching for any sign of an unexpected presence.  Sometimes, we think we see something just to then discover that it was just our overactive imagination.  Sometimes, we think we something and …. well, we actually do.

Host works because it’s a horror film to which everyone can relate.  It gets to a truth that gets beyond the usual horror movie mechanics.  There’s an interesting scene where one of the zoom participants is forced to flee from her flat.  Even with an evil presence chasing her, she still makes sure to mask up before leaving.  If it’s not the demons waiting to get you while you’re in quarantine, it’s the COVID waiting to get you as soon as you exit.  The greatest fear that many people have had over the past few months is that, even if you isolate and wear your mask and stay inside, the disease is still going to somehow get you.  Much like a demon from the other side, the coronavirus can’t be seen but it could be anywhere.  The evil spirit in Host is not named COVID but it might as well be.

Horror on the Lens: Bloodlust! (dir by Ralph Booker)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this 1961 version of The Most Dangerous Game, two vacationing couples find themselves trapped on a tropical island and hunted by the insane Dr. Albert Balleau (Wilton Graf).  Dr. Balleau loves to hunt people.  Why, you could even say that Dr. Balleau has a …. BLOODLUST!

Anyway, this is an undeniably low-budget film and it’s kind of silly but that’s actually what makes it watchable.  There’s a thousand different versions of The Most Dangerous Game out there but this is the only one to feature Robert Reed, the dad from The Brady Bunch, being hunted through the jungle.  If you’re like me and you think that Mike Brady was an authoritarian fascist, this film is for you.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Baywatch Nights 2.3 “The Rig” (dir by Jon Cassar)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of Baywatch Nights, David Hasselhoff and Angie Harmon investigate yet another sea monster.

Let’s see.  The first episode of Baywatch Night featured a sea monster.  And then the 2nd episode featured a killer mermaid.  And then this episode features yet another monster living in the sea.  Could it be that after just 3 episodes, the writers of Baywatch Nights were running out of ideas?  Fortunately, later episodes would involve various land monsters.

That said, I do find the green blob to be kind of creepy.  In general, blobs are just scary.

Enjoy!

The TSL’s Horror Grindhouse: Die Cheerleader Die! (dir by Jerry Patterson)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hey, what do you think this film is about?

Die Cheerleader Die! is a film that was first released in 2008. It’s an independent film out of Chicago and it’s about cheerleaders. It’s also about someone who is murdering all of the cheerleaders at a …. well, I’m not sure if they were supposed to be in high school or college. All of the cheerleaders appeared to be grad student age but all the classrooms looked like they belonged in a high school.

Anyway, Tiffany (Inga Draper) is in charge of the cheerleading squad at this high school or college and she basically runs it like a dictator. She tells everyone what they can and cannot do. For instance, she orders Robin (Maria Perez) to starve herself, even though Robin is not overweight at all. Robin finds herself being tempted away from the cheerleaders by a group of body acceptance activists who are referred to as being “Pretty Intelligent Girls” or …. well, you can figure out the acronym for yourself. When cheerleaders start to turn up dead, the Pretty Intelligent Girls are the number one suspects but could it be someone else?

Who knows? This film is a difficult one to sit through, largely because it was shot on video with amateur actors, fluorescent lighting, and natural sound. That’s another way of saying that Die Cheerleader Die is essentially a 90-minute YouTube video and it’s perhaps appropriate that that’s where I saw it. There’s no suspense, the kills aren’t particularly interesting, and the whole thing just gets kinda boring pretty quickly.  As I always do whenever watching a horror film about cheerleaders, I forced my sister to watch it with me so that I could get her thoughts on whether or not the film accurately captured the high school cheerleader experience.  Erin abandoned the film after about seven minutes but I stuck with it because I though it might turn out to be a Coen Brothers-style commentary on high school films.  It wasn’t.

But, I don’t like being totally negative in any review so I am going to point out two good things. Number one, Inga Draper gave a pretty good performance as Tiffany. She was like every aspiring dictator that you ever knew in high school. Secondly, regardless of whether the film is any good or not, you can’t deny that it actually got made. The filmmakers may have made some poor production choices but they still got their film made and, 11 years later, it’s still being watched and reviewed. That’s more than most people who have, at some point, said, “I’m going to make a movie!” have accomplished.

Finally, cheerleaders always seem to be at a disadvantage in horror movies. I’ve always found that pretty strange because most of the cheerleaders that I’ve known were tough-as-nails athletes who, because they were constantly having to deal with snarky comments and pervy flirtation, knew how to take care of themselves. In a real life horror movie, the cheerleaders would probably be the only ones to survive.

Trust me, when the apocalypse hits and the world is burning all around you, you’re going to be looking to the cheerleaders to not only keep up your spirits but save the world as well.

Spider-Man (1977, directed by E.W. Swackhemer)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

When a college student named Peter Parker (Nicholas Hammond) is bitten by a radioactive spider, he’s stunned to discover that he can now do everything that a spider can.  He can climb walls.  He has super strength.  He has super senses.  And, once he invents a sticky web serum, he can shoot webs and swing around the city!  All he has to now is sew himself a red and blue costume and he’ll be ready to fight crime in New York City!

It’s not a minute too soon because New York is dealing with a crime wave that only Spider-Man can deal with.  Seemingly ordinary people are suddenly going into hypnotic trances, stealing money and committing suicide.  An extortionist sends words that, unless he’s paid a lot of money, he’s going to unleash a wave hypnotic chaos on the city.  Could it have anything to do with a sinister New Age guru and hypnotist named Edward Byron (Thayer David)?

Though it was released theatrically in Europe, Spider-Man was produced for television and it served as the pilot for a short-lived CBS television series.  Along with The Incredible Hulk, this was one of the first attempts to build a television series around one of Marvel’s characters.  Unfortunately, the series only last 14 episodes before being canceled.  Though it can be hard to believe nowadays with the nonstop hype around every single comic book movie, there was a time when television and film executives were actually weary about trying to bring super heroes like Spider-Man and Captain America to life.  According to Stan Lee (who served as a consultant on Spider-Man), CBS wanted to distance their version of Spider-Man from its comic book origins.  While both the pilot and the series features Peter Parker crawling up walls and shooting webs, there’s no Uncle Ben.  There’s no talk about how with great power comes great responsibility.  Worst of all, there are no members of Spider-Man’s famed rogue’s gallery.  No Electro, no Sandman, no Green Goblin, and certainly no Dr. Octopus.  CBS wanted the show to feature down-to-Earth villains, which is an interesting strategy for a show about a grad student who can climb walls.

The television version of Peter Parker isn’t as insecure and angsty as either the comic book version or even the movie versions.  Hammond is likable and sincere in the role but he is also almost too self-assured as Parker, proof that CBS didn’t understand that a huge part of Spider-Man’s appeal was that he was never as confident as Superman or Captain America.  Instead, much like many of the people who read his comic, Peter was frequently worried and consumed with self-doubt.  The comic book version of Spider-Man was always wracked with guilt for not stopping the thief who eventually killed Ben.  The television version was more worried about selling enough selfies to The Daily Bugle to be able to go on a date with his professor’s daughter.

At least the pilot film featured a villain who wouldn’t have felt out of place in an issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, though he probably would have had a cool villain name, like the Mesmerizer, if he had appeared in the comic.  Thayer David played a lot of smug villains in the 70s, not to mention the fight promoter in Rocky.  In Spider-Man, David goes all in as the villain and he’s got the perfect posh accent for delivering threats and sarcastic put-downs.  Unfortunately, this version of Peter Parker is not the wise-cracking machine that he was in the comic books and he never really gets a chance to verbally put Byron in his place.

If you can overlook its deviations from the comic book, the pilot isn’t a bad made-for-TV adventure.  Though miscast and playing a far different version of Peter Parker than we’re used to, Nicholas Hammond does his best to make Peter and his transformation credible.  Thayer David, as always, is a good villain and the story, with ordinary people suddenly turning into ruthless criminals, isn’t bad.  Though there are a few convincing shots of Spider-Man web-slinging, most of the special effects are lousy but they’re really not any worse than what you would expect to see in a 70s made-for-TV movie.  Though the series ultimately didn’t work, the pilot is still an enjoyable precursor to what, decades later, would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Watcher in the Woods (1980) Review by Case Wright

Posted on by casewright

The Watcher in the Woods is one of those films that scares you, but you see it in your youth and it first introduces you horror. It’s like a horror movie kiddie pool. I watched this today with my daughters, which makes a really bad dad or a really awesome dad. Not sure.

My Daughter’s – Half Scary, Half weird.

I would agree with that assessment. There’s possession and I think aliens, but they don’t burst out of your chest.

The Curtis family moves into a Good Value house rental in England next door to Mrs. Aylwood (Bette Davis). Right away, poor Jan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) starts seeing weird things all around the property like laser beams. Yes, laser beams. After a lot of strange things, we learn that Mrs. Alywood’s daughter disappeared. The middle-aged townsfolk are somehow responsible….dun dun dun.

There are a lot of themes in this movie that revolve around mirrors and eclipses. For a Disney film, it is pretty scary!

I any case, the movie is free! Watch it and determine for yourself if this was a bad parenting call.

Game Review: The Sock Puppet Killer (2019, Jason Cantalini)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In this diabolically clever work of interactive fiction, the narrator needs you to track down the Sock Puppet Killer!

Who is the Sock Puppet Killer?  A killer who kills sock puppets, of course!  And why are you the only one who can stop him?  Because that narrator says that you’re former Chief Inspector Caine Slade, the brilliant detective who has been a pathetic drunk ever since the tragic death of your family!

You can tell the narrator that you’re not interested in catching the Sock Puppet Killer.  You can say that you won’t even “do it for the children!”  (Yes, that is an option.)  You can say that you have no memory of ever being Caine Slade.  You can tell the narrator, in detail, why his story doesn’t make any sense.  But eventually, you’re going to end up in a bar, approaching a beautiful woman who you’ve been told is the Sock Puppet Killer.

This is one weird game and winning it going to require more than one try.  Fully understanding everything that is happening is going to take probably a dozen tries.  There are a variety of different decisions to be made throughout the game.  Make the wrong decision and you’ll end up dead.  Make the right decision and you very well could still end up dead.  The best piece of advice that I can give you (without spoiling the game, of course) is to avoid pissing off the narrator.  At one point, I very adamantly told him that I wasn’t going to approach the Sock Puppet Killer and I suddenly found myself drowning in the ocean.  It’s accepted in almost all Interactive Fiction games that the narrator is basically God but The Sock Puppet Killer is remarkable for featuring an easily angered and very vengeful God.

The Sock Puppet Killer is well-written and often loud out loud hilarious.  It’s not an easy game but that just makes it all the more rewarding if you manage to get through the entire thing without dying.

The game can be played by clicking here.