A Horror Film Blog

It's almost Halloween, when people foolish venture into cemeteries and are terrified, so in the spirit of  public service I provide this warning.  Don't do it, kids.  Heed the warning of this Mexican occult meddling / slasher / zombie / something or other.   There are two films here, in Rubén Galindo Jr's messy directorial debut. The first one is rubbish.  The second one isn't exactly good but is actually quite fun in spite / because of its cheapness and overall silliness. The first film is a fairly standard "Witless teens meddle in the occult, awaken a demon and it eats their faces" type of deal, only not as much fun as that sounds.  Our "teens" are distinctly older looking and unlikeable; perhaps fortunately unlikeable as they are doomed to die in pretty short order.  No final girls here.  Bored, horny guys trick their girlfriends to accompany them to An Old Creepy House on Halloween, promising them they are attending a "Jet set" party....

This is a Troma film. If you don't know what that means, avoid. You won't regret not experiencing the Troma trauma.  If you have encountered Troma before, you know what to expect - terrible script; dire performances (with the exception of Carla Ferrigno [aka Mrs Lou 'Incredible Hulk' Ferrigno] who appears in a spikey cameo); clueless direction (the director would go onto to do script work on some notable films, bizarrely) awful special effects; gratuitous nudity; witless, juvenile humour. This one has the added 'attraction' of a bad metal soundtrack.  Because this is shamelessly piggybacking on the 80s 'Satanic panic' about how Alice Cooper was going to make our children worship Belzebub, or some such.  Basically, a terrible light metal band announce they are going to do a special show at the dead end town of Mill Basin. MILL BASIN!! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?! In spite of never having toured before, they are apparently the biggest thing in the universe and ...

This is ... not good.  Like, bad. Grotesque, and not in a good way. A small fishing community ins assailed by malevolent demi-human fish creatures that like to rend flesh and rape women,  the latter is shown in embarrassingly bad - but needlessly prolonged - sequences.  And repeated, in case you didn't get the idea first time round.  Fish guys raping human girls.  For your amusement.  Because there wasn't no way anyone was expecting anyone would be scared by this shit. In case you didn't believe me about the fish guy rape bit It would have been rubbish in the 1960s, but this was made in 1980, so there is no excuse for it being this inept and clueless.  Horror films have often been a stepping stone for film makers - a simple plot, gallons of fake blood and some gratuitous nudity.  Roger Corman's persistently schlocky endeavours probably helped more film writers, actors, directors and technicians learn their trade - and pay the bills - than any pret...

Alligator is directed by Lewis Teague and written by John Sayles, who also went onto direct a string of very good films in the 80s and 90s ( The Return of the Secaucus 7 , City of Hope , Lone Star , Limbo , Men With Guns ). Termigator III: Rise of the Munchines It's tempting, given Sayles's involvement to try to see a bit more quality in this film than it really has.  It's a big, dumb film about an alligator terrorising Chicago.  But though Sayles may have writer it, it bears the hallmarks of Teague's mentor, Roger Corman.  It's a rather silly B movie with no real notable qualities. I did want to like the film more than I did, and wanted to see some strands of quality that would raise it above the run of the mill Corman fare.  But if we're honest, if the same film was presented to us without the revered name attached, we shrug, mutter something about "Just a Troma film without the boobs" and go back top bemoaning the lack of quality films. Perhaps Sayl...

This Australian film is on Shudder, but it isn't exactly a horror film - look elsewhere if you want gore or shocks. It is, however, a very well made film and Quentin Tarantino's championing has helped get it some much deserved attention.   The plot does revolve around the search for a serial killer - kind of - and there are some well crafted suspense sequences, so if you need justification for its inclusion here, there's that. It's a semi-comic thriller built on three great performances - Stacey Keach as the trucker Quid; a hound credited as 'Killer' as his 'dingo' companion; and his truck as ... his truck. All roads lead to Rome, but what road diverted Jamie Lee Curtis to Australia in 1981? It's worth taking a moment to consider how Stacey Keach manages to be brilliant in many remarkable films (this one; Fat City; The Heart is a Lonely Hunter) but inexplicably hasn't enjoyed the success of lesser actors. More intensity, Stacey! While we are on t...

Jamie Lee Curtis gets to rest on her post Halloween laurels in a fun slasher film directed with far more skill and panache than you would expects kill.  Even in 1980, no-one would have mistaken this a a groundbreaking, genre-redefining film but it is still enjoyable. This is definitely one of the better examples of post Halloween / Friday the 13th tongue-in-cheek slasher silliness.  While the frankly dull Prom Night might be the one that everyone reveres, this cheerfully gory little film should enjoy a far more prominent place in the slasher cannon. Rather than imitating Black Christmas / Halloween / Friday the 13th and throwing a dart at a calendar and using whatever date it lands on as the 'justification' for someone murdering a bunch of co-eds / cheerleaders / babysitters / camp counsellors, this time they decide to shake things up by Putting It On A Train. FACT - everything is better on a train.  Sex is better on a train.  Food is better on a train.  Murder...