31 Days of Horror Day 15 From Hell

From Hell
2001
20th Century Fox DVD

To anyone that reads this blog often will know I am a huge comic book fan.After horror films,comic books are the second big passion of my life. I started reading Alan Moores serialized story "From Hell" back when it was being published in Taboo. Then the publisher went under and I didn't read the rest of the comic.

Around 2000 I heard that the Hughes Brothers,of Menace to Society fame,were adapting then now finished comic into a film.I have no idea why I didn't go see it back then. And for some reason I never bothered to rent it. Or even finish the comic.

Around 2006 I found the DVD for $5 in the infamous 5 buck bin in Walmart.But like lots of DVDs I bought it and it sat on my shelf unwatched for close to 4 years.

The film,which differs from the comic,tells the tale of a detective trying to solve the Jack the Ripper murders. This detective,played by Johnny Depp,uses very unique ways to solve crimes and is also a drug addict. Heather Graham is the female lead. She is a hooker and has seen her hooker friends be murdered.

I do like the theories behind Jack the Ripper's identity and motives in the film. And out of the handful of Jack the Ripper films I have seen this is the best one.So much better than the Jess Franco 70s Jack the Ripper.

I love how the DVD is packed with extras. We get a commentary with the directors.An alternate ending and at least 20 deleted scenes.

Since seeing this I have went and read the entire comic. Which is a great comic but would be fairly hard to adapt to film.

From Hell gets a B.

31 Days of Horror Day 14 Witchfinder General

Witchfinder General AKA The Conqueror Worm
1968
MGM Midnite Movies DVD


I really miss the MGM Midnite Movie line. They put out some great films,usually with good extras. Plus they were almost always super cheap. I had wanted to see this film for years. But could never find a copy. It went out of print and I figured I would end up having to find a used copy. I was in the nearest mall,which sucks ass,looking around though the bookstore. Saw they had a shelf of DVDs they were clearing out.And I found Witchfinder General for $8.

Price plays witchfinder back in the middle ages.And he is so understated in this role. Out of all the Vincent Price horror films I have seen this one is the most brutal. One neat thing is for years this film was known as The conqueror worm in the USA.This was done to make people think it was connected to the popular AIP Price/Poe films.But instead we get a fictionalized version of the witch hunts that went on.

Now the DVD only has two extra features. One is a short featurette on the director Micheal Reeves. Who died not that long after this film was finished. The other is a very entertaining commentary by producer Philip Waddilove and actor Ian Ogilvy.

One thing that makes this film stand out amongst all the other horror films Mr Price did,is that this one is dead serious. Most Vincent Price horror films have at least a touch of comedy to them.

Witchfinder General gets a C+.

31 Days of Horror Day 13 Madhouse

Madhouse
1974
MGM/TGG Direct double feature DVD

Ever since I saw House on Haunted Hill back in the early 80s I have been a fairly big Vincent Price fan. Last year in October,my local Walmart had a bunch of these double feature Vincent Price DVDS. With them being $5 each I grabbed 2 of the packs.

Now this pack I had seen Masque of Red Death before. IIRC I had the old MGM dvd. But some flaky asshole stole it. But I had not seen or heard of Madhouse.

Price plays a washed up horror star that has a mental breakdown. After he recovers he agrees to take his most famous role and play that part on a tv show.Quickly the cast and crew of the tv show start dying in ways that are similar to the deaths in his films.

Mr Price is great in the lead role of Paul Toombe/Dr Death. I might be wrong but I think this is the first time Price and Peter Cushing were in the same film.Also Count Yorga aka Robert Quarry has a part in the film.

This was the last film Mr Price did for AIP. And sadly it didn't do that well at the box office. I am not sure why. I really enjoy this and would love to see it on the big screen

The dvd is barebones.No extras at all. But hell for $5 it is worth it.

Madhouse gets an A.

31 Days of Horror Day 12 Lust for Frankenstein

Lust for Frankenstein
1998
Shock o Rama Cinema Double Feature DVD

Back in the late 90s I read Alternative Cinema all the time. And it was because of that magazine that I got into Jess Franco films. Sure I had seen Jack the Ripper and Oasis of the Zombies before this time period. But reading the great reviews in the mag of Tender Flesh and Lust for Frankenstein I just had to see more of Franco's films.

By this time in Mr Franco's career he was making films on video with funding coming from a group of fans. It was sometime in 2008 I was looking around on Ebay and found this dvd super cheap. I mostly got it for Tender Flesh.

Lina Romay plays the daughter of the mad scientist Frankenstein. She is haunted by dreams of her now dead father. These dreams lead her to her father's creation. A male/female creature played by scream queen legend Michelle Bauer. Very quickly Bauer AKA Goddess becomes enraged at anyone that flirts with Lina.

Now this isn't one of Franco's best films. But it still has some good points. Michelle is great as Goddess. And there are some very very trippy visuals. And the jazz like soundtrack is well done.

The DVD has no extras. But last time I checked you can get it for under 10 bucks. Which if you are a fan of strange cinema and/or a Jess Franco fan it is worth getting.

Lust for Frankenstein gets a C.

31 Days of Horror Day 11 Petey Wheatstraw the devil's son in law

Petey Wheatstraw the Devil's Son in Law
1977
Xenon Pictures DVD

I thought I had seen all the Rudy Ray Moore films. Then back in the fall of 2007 local rapper Squid-Key told me about Petey Wheatstraw. "Since you love horror and comedy you will love this film." About a year after that I found it at Walmart in a pack with "The Black Godfather" for $7.50.  Well Petey was worth that money.

Petey was born in the middle of a hurricane. And he looks to be 12 when he is born. As he grows up he becomes super famous and a duo of comedians get jealous. So they put a hit out on Petey. Petey dies and goes to hell. But Satan allows him to come back to Earth.But he has to marry the devil's ugly daughter.

Petey is sent back to Earth.Armed with a magic pimp cane. And we get all kinds of wacky hyjinx.With the rest of the film has Petey trying to figure out how to out smart the devil.

My major complaint about the dvd is the back of the case lists all kinds of extras.And none of them are on the dvd. All we get is the film and the barely over an hour documentary "The Legend of Dolemite".

Petey Wheatstraw the Devil's Son in Law gets a A.

31 Days of Horror Day 10 Amityville Horror II:The Possession

Amityville Horror II:The Possession
1982
MGM DVD

Now I might have seen this years ago.Pretty sure at one time I made it a point to watch the first 5 Amityville films. But I remembered nothing about it. But after I finished reading the novel and watching the original film I was interested in seeing this "prequel". Which is supposedly inspired by the real events that happened before the Lutzs moved into the home.

An Italian family moves into the house. With Paulie from Rocky playing the Dad and Diane Franklin as the daughter. The house takes control of the eldest brother and then it gets gory and sleazy.

We get walls dripping blood.Strange noises and happenings.Then just when I think the film has hit it's peak we get this icky scene where the oldest brother starts macking on his sister,played by Diane Franklin.

Honestly I find this to be a much better film that any of the other Amityville films I have seen.

Amityville Horror II:The Possession gets a B+.

31 Days of Horror Day 09 The Return of Skeleton Farm's Halloween Horrorshow

Doing something different today, Back in September the famed video mixtape team Skeleton Farm released the second volume in their Halloween Horrorshow series.

It is an almost hour long collection of movie trailers,cartoons,short clips from tv shows and movies. All of which have a Horror or Halloween theme to them,

The best way to describe it is like this. Imagine going to Youtube. You watch say the trailer to horror cheese classic Pieces. When it is over there is 9 videos they recommend to you. Add some nice editing and music and that is what this fun video mixdvd is all about.

Also on the DVD is a couple of classic spooky cartoons. And  a trailer. One last piece of advice stay all the way through the credits. The Return of Skeleton Farm's Halloween Horrorshow gets a B.

31 Days of Horror Day 08 Tales from the Crypt Demon Knight

Tales from the Crypt:Demon Knight
1995
Universal Double Feature DVD

I got introduced to Tales from the Crypt in the late 80s/early 90s. When the Russ Cochran reprints starting coming out. I loved them so opening night I had to see this film.

First time I saw this movie really no one in the cast stood out to me. But now I realized it has a great cast of genre vets. You get William Sadler as the titular Demon Knight. Billy Zane as the villain.Jada Pinkett as the co lead hero. CCH Pounder as the owner of the boarding house. Then the great Dick Miller as the loveable Uncle Willy. Also who can forget the amazing John Laroquette in a tiny cameo

Sadler has a key that is full of blood. And Zane is trying to get it from him. Sadler ends up taking refuge in Pounder's boarding house. And we get a fun siege film. Where Sadler and most of the rest of the cast try to keep Zane and his demons out of the house.

As with the comics,and tv show,we get a great blend of horror and comedy. And while it is a bit dated now,the film does have a fun soundtrack.

I really love how this ends and was hoping we would get more films about the Demon Knight.

It sucks the DVD has no extras. I would love to hear a cast and/or crew commentary. Plus I seem to remember hearing how at least 5 minutes had to be cut from the film to get an R rating.

Tales from the Crypt:Demon Knight gets an A-.

31 Days of Horror Day 07 Flying Monkeys

Flying Monkeys
2013
Sony DVD

Sometime last year I saw that this film was going to air on Syfy Channel. It looked super cheesy,but sometimes these Syfy Channel films can be fun.

Filled with allusions to The Wizard of OZ,like how the town is named Gale,this is the tale of a young lady who gets a pet monkey. Each night when the sun sets the monkey morphs into a killer flying monkey. Who looks like a first gen PS1 graphic.

Through long ass boring scenes we find out that there is only a few flying monkeys left in the world. And two vaguely Asian looking people are in charge of hunting them. We find out that if you kill a flying monkey with any weapon that isn't one of the "holy" ones,they come back to life and create a duplicate.


Now the acting isn't bad. The story is pretty good. But the horrible flying monkey effects hurt this movie so much. I expect cheesy cgi when I watch a Syfy film. But the CGI in this film are almost as bad as Birddemic.

Flying Monkeys gets a D.

31 Days of Horror Day 06 Hollow Man

Hollow Man
2000
Lionsgate 4 film DVD

This is a film I hadn't thought about in over 10 years. I saw it back when it first hit VHS. Enjoyed it and then promptly forgot about it.So it was last summer,my Aunt Midget had asked me to put together a wishlist on Amazon. I saw for $7.50 a pack with 4 films. Hollow Man,Hollow man 2,I had no idea there was a sequel,Fortress 2,which I really need to rewatch and review soon and The Harvest,which I still need to watch.

I was visiting a friend. Who doesn't have cable,so I always bring them over stacks of stuff to watch. I brought this pack over because they had mentioned how much they loved Fortress and had never seen Fortress 2.

I always thought of this film as a continuation of a trend that started in the 90s with Bram Stroker's Dracula. Where the classic Universal monsters were taken and updated for a modern audience. With Hollow Man,Paul Verhoeven took the Claude Rains classic "The Invisible Man" and made it sleazier.

Kevin Bacon is good as the titular Hollow man. And the always beautiful Elizabeth Shue makes a great heroine/final girl.The invisible FX work is great,and the rest of the cast are all good.

Bacon plays a scientist that discovers a formula that  turns whoever takes it invisible. But this also seems to cause him to go insane.

My only real complaint is the last 10 minutes. Where it seems Bacon is not only invisible but also can not die. If this had come out in the 70s it would have been the perfect second feature of a double feature at the drive in.

Hollow Man gets a B.