Tag Archives: Horror

Jedadiah Leland’s Horrific Adventures in The Internet Archive #17: Uninvited (1986, ICOM Simulations, Inc)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Continuing my journey through the dark side of the Internet Archive, I played Uninvited (1986, ICOM Simulations, Inc.).

At the start of Uninvited, you are driving down an isolated road when something darts out in front of you.  You swerve to avoid it and crash your car.  When you regain consciousness, you discover that your younger brother, who was in the passenger’s seat, has disappeared.  Did he go for help or has something else happened?

Maybe it has something to do with the mansion that is looming in front of your car.

You can search for your brother in the house.  In fact, that is the only option that is available to you.  There are a lot of rooms to explore but be careful.  There are also ghosts, zombies, and other things that you do not want to run into.  On the plus side, the game will usually warn you before you go into the wrong room.  On the negative side, sometimes it won’t and this will happen:

Though Uninvited‘s point-and-click system can seem clunky by today’s standards, I enjoyed playing it.  I haven’t found my brother, yet, but I am sure he is out there somewhere.

Horror on the Lens: Cruel Jaws (dir by Bruno Mattei)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror on the lens is the 1995 Italian film, Cruel Jaws!

As you’ll quickly notice, though the actors speak in English, there are also Japanese subtitles.  That’s because the film was barely released in the United States, for legal reasons.  (Cruel Jaws is full of footage lifted from better-known shark films.)  However, it was very popular in Japan.

This film was directed by the one and only Bruno Mattei.  You can read my review here.

Horror on TV: Thriller 2.12 “The Return of Andrew Bentley” (dir by John Newland)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have another episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series, Thriller!

Like many of the Thriller episodes that we’ve shared this month, this episode deals with an inheritance and a possibly haunted house.  Ellis Corbett (John Newland, who also directed) promises his uncle that, after his uncle’s death, Ellis will never leave the family mansion and that he will always check to make sure that the crypt has not been disturbed.  The uncle promptly kills himself and Ellis soon discovers just why exactly he cannot leave the mansion.

This atmospheric episode features a script by Richard Matheson and a frightening performance from Reggie Nalder, who is best known for his roles in both The Man Who Knew Too Much and Salem’s Lot!

Enjoy!

Jedadiah Leland’s Horrific Adventures In The Internet Archive #16: Scapeghost (1989, Level 9)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Continuing my journey through the dark side of the Internet Archive, I played Scapeghost (1989, Level 9).

Scapeghost is a blast.

At one time, you were Alan Chase, a narcotics detective who was on the verge of a big bust.  Then you and your partner, Sarah, were ambushed by the dealers.  Sarah was kidnapped.  You died.  When you returned as a ghost, you got to attend your own funeral.  That is when you found out that Sarah was still missing and that everyone blamed you for getting killed.

Why was your spirit still in the mortal plane?  Was it so you could save Sarah and clear your name?

You have three days to get the job done.

Scapeghost is a text adventure, with optional graphics.  Strangely, the game is written in the first person.  For instance, type “go north” and the game will respond with something like, “I headed north.”  At first, it’s awkward but it doesn’t take too long to get used to it.  The puzzles are challenging but not impossible and there’s a lot of fun to be had in haunting people.  (You get extra points every time you scare a certain character.)

The best thing about Scapeghost?  Once the drug dealers figure out that you’ve come back from the dead, they bring in a priest to perform an exorcism!  Don’t worry, though.  Just leave your grave before he finishes the ceremony and you will still be able to save Sarah and clear your name.

One final note: Scapeghost was the last text adventure to be published by Level 7.  They went out on a high note.

A Movie A Day #291: Pale Blood (1990, directed by V.V. Dachin Hsu and Michael W. Leighton)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Someone is murdering women in Los Angeles and draining them of their blood.  A mysterious detective named Michael Fury (George Chakiris) arrives from London and starts to investigate.  Fury is a vampire but he is a thoroughly modern vampire.  He even has his own special travel coffin that he takes with him on trips.  To help him with his investigation, he hires a researcher named Lori (Pamela Ludwig).  Lori is convinced that the killings are being committed by a real vampire but Michael believes that they are actually the work of a human who is only pretending to be one of the undead.  Michael is worried that this fake vampire will make real vampires look bad.  Meanwhile, a crazy photographer (Wings Hauser) stalks Michael, determined to capture a vampire of his very own.

Pale Blood went straight-to-video and does not have the budget to match its ambitions but it is still a fairly good, if overlooked, vampire movie.  George Chakiris, who is best known for his role in West Side Story, had the right look to play a brooding vampire and he and Pamela Ludwig made a good team.  Not surprisingly, the best thing about Pale Blood was Wings Hauser.  In this movie, Wings Hauser gave a performance that was demented even by the standards of Wings Haauser.  Hauser is so crazy in this movie that Pale Blood sets the standard by which all other crazy Wing Hauser performances must be judged.

One final note: the vhs cover art, which is pictured above, features a shot of Wings Hauser that was apparently lifted from a different movie.

 

Halloween Havoc!: I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (RKO 1943)

Posted on by gary loggins

gary loggins's avatarcracked rear viewer

Val Lewton’s  I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE is, despite the exploitative title, one of the most moody and atmospheric horror films of the 40’s. This was Lewton’s follow up to the highly successful CAT PEOPLE (1942), with Jacques Tourneur again in the director’s chair. Though screenwriters Curt Siodmak and Ardel Wray based their script on a story by Inez Wallace, producer Lewton had them add elements of Charlotte Bronte’s JANE EYRE, making this a  Gothic zombie movie!

Nurse Betsy Connell (Frances Dee) is summoned to the West Indies isle of St. Sebastian to look after Paul Holland’s (Tom Conway ) catatonic wife Jessica. The cynical Holland has an air of melancholy about him (“There’s no beauty here”, he states on the sea trip to the island, “only decay and death”). Upon arrival, Betsy meets Holland’s stepbrother Wesley Reed (James Ellison), a jovial sort until he gets in the presence of…

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Horror Scenes That I Love: The Bridge Attack Scene From Two Orphan Vampires

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s horror scene that I love comes from the 1997 French film, Two Orphan Vampires.

I knew that I really wanted to share a scene from Two Orphan Vampires on this date.  It’s my favorite Jean Rollin film.  Unfortunately, most of the really good scenes have been taken off of YouTube.  That said, I do like the way Rollin uses the color blue in this scene and the opening image of those two blind vampires walking across the bridge is still a strong one.  When viewed out of context, the attack on the poet may be seen weak but actually it’s just another example of Rollin’s dream-like aesthetic.  If the attack on the poet seems fake, that may be because it wasn’t supposed to have really happened.

Watch the film and it’ll make sense.

Jedadiah Leland’s Horrific Adventures In The Internet Archive #15: Ghostbusters — Basic Training (1987, Activision)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Who wouldn’t want to be a member of the Ghostbusters?  (No, not the new version.  I’m talking about the version with Venkman and Ray and Egon.)  I got a chance to try when, while exploring the dark side of the Internet Archive, I played Ghostbusters — Basic Training (1987, Activision, Inc.).

Unfortunately, it turns out that catching ghosts is far more difficult than I originally assumed.

This is what the game starts with.  A night in a haunted house?  No problem, I can do that standing on my head.  I pressed return.

There’s the familiar logo!  I pressed return again.

Good.  I’m in front of the house.  Let’s get started with the training.  From my own experience playing text adventures, I know that the first thing I should do is check my inventory.

A text adventure that does not understand one of the most basic commands in interactive fiction?  That seems strange but I’ll adjust.  Since the description of my location disappeared when I typed in inventory, I’ll take another look around.

“Look,” I type.

An adventure game that doesn’t know the look command?  I search my memory and try to remember the directions that were previously listed.  The house was to the northwest.

“NW” I type.

“Northwest”

What?  Maybe I got the directions wrong.

“North”

“South.”

“East.”

“West.”

“Go house.”

“Go porch.”

“Annoyed.”

“Rage”

You get the idea.  Because the game and I are speaking different languages, I have yet to actually enter the house and get trained.  I haven’t even managed to step on the porch yet.

I’m never going to be a Ghostbuster.