HEATHER SEARS WITH ANNETTE WHITELEY IN 'THE BLACK TORMENT'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4habL-HxQmztWm4Nbc4V-LIFKw3Q0CMZnWnbyfdiWu736xJnMHeYG-lP391rgDCGWoCzVHHjw3BhUjSXj48L3SZ_ZnEaeSpTkOVfQvAcJrG5lEYJuq9MCjAKvT_MAwZ6-tMswG9uG1ckFGxLfZj1p3qQ3xG9MtuegIvbCZNT_ubk_tpBAAeu5c7_O3nV/s1600/image1788936022.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4habL-HxQmztWm4Nbc4V-LIFKw3Q0CMZnWnbyfdiWu736xJnMHeYG-lP391rgDCGWoCzVHHjw3BhUjSXj48L3SZ_ZnEaeSpTkOVfQvAcJrG5lEYJuq9MCjAKvT_MAwZ6-tMswG9uG1ckFGxLfZj1p3qQ3xG9MtuegIvbCZNT_ubk_tpBAAeu5c7_O3nV/s1600/image1788936022.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Heather Sears and John Turner in THE BLACK TORMENT Year: 1964 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since THE ROOM WITH A VIEW, when social-climbing rascal Laurence Harvey stares at Heather Sears, he mentions out loud how incredibly perfect a young woman she is... <br><br>Which became her niche: the upturned nosed, round-faced, always-smiling cutie that turns the heads of both men and monsters in Hammer's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and once again epitomizes girl-next-door allure as the new wife of a returning English lord in THE BLACK TORMENT...</p><p><span></span></p>

ann lynn, annette whiteley, edina ronay, francis de wolff, gothic, heather sears, horror, john turner, joseph tomelty, peter arne, sixties

HEATHER SEARS WITH ANNETTE WHITELEY IN 'THE BLACK TORMENT'

Heather Sears and John Turner in THE BLACK TORMENT Year: 1964 Rating: ***1/2 Since THE ROOM WITH A VIEW, when social-climbing rascal Laurenc...

LARA WENDEL AND MALISA LONGO HAUNTING 'THE RED MONKS'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fpfwc2Gufp5LRfymdVDQdEAAMJA15rqHuAgyk0lG0bihx9uavn3kAKv6dIDKaRm1NHUKg0JVWilcpJHhDqXZx9GD6IaGsXs-vWSC-t1XkvnbQAEuh0TrcME3jajM_oF_JzyTuC9oKJjYfiXpFyjkGFKqUQyvTkzYcL6_CsBU7HKcBV-yncsZViDydAYD/s1902/Screen%20Shot%202026-08-20%20at%2012.09.07%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1902" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fpfwc2Gufp5LRfymdVDQdEAAMJA15rqHuAgyk0lG0bihx9uavn3kAKv6dIDKaRm1NHUKg0JVWilcpJHhDqXZx9GD6IaGsXs-vWSC-t1XkvnbQAEuh0TrcME3jajM_oF_JzyTuC9oKJjYfiXpFyjkGFKqUQyvTkzYcL6_CsBU7HKcBV-yncsZViDydAYD/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-08-20%20at%2012.09.07%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lara Wendel in THE RED MONKS Year: 1988 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since low-budget horror movies began, there's always been certain locations where it's obvious the entire script was based around — find the place first and write the script later... </p><p></p><p>Which has never been as impressive as the otherwise mostly unimpressive Gothic horror THE RED MONKS, where two generations of dark-haired men inherit a castle where the interior is an almost endless maze of Medieval corridors... </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, eighties, gothic, horror, italian, lara wendel, malisa longo

LARA WENDEL AND MALISA LONGO HAUNTING 'THE RED MONKS'

Lara Wendel in THE RED MONKS Year: 1988 Rating: *** Since low-budget horror movies began, there's always been certain locations where it...

MARIO BAVA'S 'BARON BLOOD' WITH ELKE SOMMER & JOSEPH COTTEN

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja3ZzOyKuzjGp1MAJ6z8v65qVh0MDtFnUWVtDpXuFj5zGMnxEQC2cTj0kWnWhmyWEGR_eQas6AbdT4mdw1fQyZPTYFQR0EDpBSjorqLW2nXf9KNmoVVfWNpEyUbJdGdlFk-ADtly6csfmscf2AdnKSv-YQAYIAEGIP10jrY8HpprZUK7JG_XmVW1VlAp5x/s1412/1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja3ZzOyKuzjGp1MAJ6z8v65qVh0MDtFnUWVtDpXuFj5zGMnxEQC2cTj0kWnWhmyWEGR_eQas6AbdT4mdw1fQyZPTYFQR0EDpBSjorqLW2nXf9KNmoVVfWNpEyUbJdGdlFk-ADtly6csfmscf2AdnKSv-YQAYIAEGIP10jrY8HpprZUK7JG_XmVW1VlAp5x/s16000/1.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BARON BLOOD Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Italian director Mario Bava, always comfortable within gothic-soaked time-period pictures like BLACK SABBATH and BLACK SUNDAY, is so initially thrust into the bright/glossy 1970's for BARON OF BLOOD that... with monotone star Antonio Cantafora meeting spunky-cute ingenue Elke Sommer in his infamously murdered ancestor's immensely sinister castle... you'll think his Pan Am flight would lead absolutely nowhere beyond a groovy night at the funky discoteque: where the two leads hit it off because they're both perfect-looking... <br><br>So maybe Bava's lost his touch, about to submerge viewers into a campy drive-in exploitation flick... until the titular BARON is brought back and, with a nightmarishly melted-prosthetic face half-obscured within a menacing black cloak, things get really scary... particularly when Sommer's chased around the corridor-mazy castle with a barrage of creative quick-zoom shots where, thirty-five minutes in, we're finally experiencing a genuine Bava feature where he's (as usual) both director and cinematographer... <br></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, antonio cantafora, body count, elke sommer, exploitation, gothic, horror, joseph cotten, mario bava, nicoletta elmi, rada rassimov, seventies, witch

MARIO BAVA'S 'BARON BLOOD' WITH ELKE SOMMER & JOSEPH COTTEN

Title: BARON BLOOD Year: 1972 Rating: **** Italian director Mario Bava, always comfortable within gothic-soaked time-period pictures like BL...

BOLTING HAMMER'S UNDERRRATED 'THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiej6SXAIncnjaRRuNYXqM3TMbG7iyUrTtZ3-_GfRJqN8LEV0KAHQlQ0OnE4NI7x55ltpeewbe60dNWAAUu2Icbmi90NP1g6pxugd_PBnMrFSM0Mxv_TbaOYHpV2LkGjNYphOOBrZVlawYfkYq_F2k4mmsaaS02Z108a7VjNtZoPyQF4LSkMtKGDjnbI4VX/s1618/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-25%20at%2010.01.17%20AM%202%205.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="893" data-original-width="1618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiej6SXAIncnjaRRuNYXqM3TMbG7iyUrTtZ3-_GfRJqN8LEV0KAHQlQ0OnE4NI7x55ltpeewbe60dNWAAUu2Icbmi90NP1g6pxugd_PBnMrFSM0Mxv_TbaOYHpV2LkGjNYphOOBrZVlawYfkYq_F2k4mmsaaS02Z108a7VjNtZoPyQF4LSkMtKGDjnbI4VX/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-25%20at%2010.01.17%20AM%202%205.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Cushing with Katy Wild with and Kiwi Kingston The Evil of Frankenstein 1964 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hammer's third Peter Cushing Frankenstein THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN is a kind of throwback to director James Whale's second starring Boris Karloff, but instead of Cushing having a BRIDE he seeks help from a small village's carnival sorcerer/charlatan named Zoltan the way Colin Clive needed Doctor Pretorius... both involving two mad scientists reanimating/controlling the one monster...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Here thinned from ice in an old cavern that Cushing and his normal/classy assistant Hans not so accidentally find... with the help of one of the prettiest Hammer starlets: which is saying something for a production company that churned out some of the prettiest faces on the big screen...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, caron gardner, duncan lamont, franchise, frankenstein, gothic, hammer films, horror, james maxwell, katy wild, kiwi kingston, peter cushing, peter woodthorpe, sequel, sixties

BOLTING HAMMER'S UNDERRRATED 'THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN'

Peter Cushing with Katy Wild with and Kiwi Kingston The Evil of Frankenstein 1964 Rates: ***1/2 Hammer's third Peter Cushing Frankenstei...

MARLON BRANDO IN MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE NIGHTCOMERS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1FDaSRB-PKGh9Nl0WYWnBOQ6tLniqqNG11RR6QE5OTCawm6-hzVEh7G8E_NReyx54Gz3oOb6XPdmX7b0sFWjds9uEx0kTuDT9fvxrXaDKazOvo4eBJRRjC71Veu8_YSnIrS9VRCFkkipmFxn5E0Y8SqmVl-y3fBmsbnsgnppdcHPyOcnbohaUKf963py/s1924/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-24%20at%209.38.35%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1924" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ1FDaSRB-PKGh9Nl0WYWnBOQ6tLniqqNG11RR6QE5OTCawm6-hzVEh7G8E_NReyx54Gz3oOb6XPdmX7b0sFWjds9uEx0kTuDT9fvxrXaDKazOvo4eBJRRjC71Veu8_YSnIrS9VRCFkkipmFxn5E0Y8SqmVl-y3fBmsbnsgnppdcHPyOcnbohaUKf963py/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-24%20at%209.38.35%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE NIGHTCOMERS Director: Michael Winner Year: 1971 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Marlon Brando's THE GODFATHER comeback was more of a legacy accreditation for an entire career, blending with the STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and ON THE WATERFRONT roles as if all the forgettable films in-between didn't exist; and here's another that (although better than most at that time) perhaps he could have avoided... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Strangely enough, the title NIGHTCOMERS fits the adaptation of Henry James's enigmatic supernatural short story TURN OF THE SCREW ala 1961's THE INNOCENTS as two ghosts (our lovers here, when alive) arrive/come at night, appearing before the same children along with their caretaker: the latter arriving at the tail-end, connected to the famous predecessor... but was the Henry James tale relevant enough for an entire prequel/backstory? </p><span></span>

anna palk, christopher ellis, gothic, harry andrews, henry james, horror, marlon brando, michael winner, prequel, seventies, stephanie beacham, thriller, verna harvey

MARLON BRANDO IN MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE NIGHTCOMERS'

Title: THE NIGHTCOMERS Director: Michael Winner Year: 1971 Rating: *** Marlon Brando's THE GODFATHER comeback was more of a legacy accre...

CAROL LYNLEY, GIG YOUNG & OLIVER REED IN 'THE SHUTTERED ROOM'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EMgCXboxY58-vdVsKrShprjoJlD0duReNMb1vD0ipBmPYPokso-hgWRbxm2Vi3pXBs1_O6KNXwTPdLMhSPG-grHBSofvYdkX6Vddt_HqcQpW8Rq7S2GiNQTh16XN58cCoaZ5GfFud09n6J8SY9nW-G2ljtk7_ISzMcX9tVpBWEmt0_d-Urubj2r8iw/s1759/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1759" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EMgCXboxY58-vdVsKrShprjoJlD0duReNMb1vD0ipBmPYPokso-hgWRbxm2Vi3pXBs1_O6KNXwTPdLMhSPG-grHBSofvYdkX6Vddt_HqcQpW8Rq7S2GiNQTh16XN58cCoaZ5GfFud09n6J8SY9nW-G2ljtk7_ISzMcX9tVpBWEmt0_d-Urubj2r8iw/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SHUTTERED ROOM Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A near clone of Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS only five years earlier, during the psychedelic era, which is only apparent from the bare-bone jazz soundtrack orchestrating a married couple consisting of a beautiful blonde wife with an ordinary, unassuming husband returning to her small New England-based island home (yet obviously shot in the beautifully rustic exterior of England), part of an eerie Gothic mill that's its very own living/breathing character...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Making the inevitable climax of who's hiding within the titular SHUTTERED ROOM not that important a surprise-twist having been teased during a surreal, horror-trope prologue by mostly TV-director David Greene...  </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, british, bully, carol lynley, david greene, drama, gig young, gothic, horror, jazz score, oliver reed, rural, sixties, thriller

CAROL LYNLEY, GIG YOUNG & OLIVER REED IN 'THE SHUTTERED ROOM'

Title: THE SHUTTERED ROOM Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 A near clone of Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS only five years earlier, during the psych...

KIM HUNTER IN VAL LEWTON'S GOTHIC NOIR 'THE SEVENTH VICTIM'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmptvil1csm4jJW2AM544M4M_YHy73DfdA_7pO9YKTWmG25oHUN8N_zx1OsfgdFlpm2iFUUNy6Mx_VpIfJFTq8h3cmmtPypYqRKVQo0MF2rnPBLc3RBGXddoaMPYyCzchzdv5qPbwYDXzn41UsfKk6I0vks4sIaEI1ejycNKaLiIOHGC4Wx6rVTXWug/s1470/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmptvil1csm4jJW2AM544M4M_YHy73DfdA_7pO9YKTWmG25oHUN8N_zx1OsfgdFlpm2iFUUNy6Mx_VpIfJFTq8h3cmmtPypYqRKVQo0MF2rnPBLc3RBGXddoaMPYyCzchzdv5qPbwYDXzn41UsfKk6I0vks4sIaEI1ejycNKaLiIOHGC4Wx6rVTXWug/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SEVENTH VICTIM Year: 1943 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following producer Val Lewton's exploitation horrors CAT PEOPLE, THE LEOPARD MAN and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE directed by Jacques Tourneur, where the titles alone helped fill theaters, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, by another Lewton stock auteur, Mark Robson, is the most ambiguous and enigmatic yet made very little money...</p><p></p><p>And unlike a straight mystery, what's buried in the investigative plot-line is revealed halfway through after young Kim Hunter trades her safe chilly girl's school teaching job for the big, dark, looming city, searching for her older sister, the highly-regarded owner of a lucrative cosmetics company, who suddenly vanished... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

barbara hale, dewey robinson, elizabeth russell, erford gage, film noir or melodrama, forties, gothic, horror, hugh beaumont, jean brooks, kim hunter, lou lubin, mark robson, tom conway, val lewton

KIM HUNTER IN VAL LEWTON'S GOTHIC NOIR 'THE SEVENTH VICTIM'

Title: THE SEVENTH VICTIM Year: 1943 Rating: **** Following producer Val Lewton's exploitation horrors CAT PEOPLE, THE LEOPARD MAN and I...

OBSCURE CULT EXPLOITATION OF 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'DEMON ISLAND'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdV4fDu85Aa6OB47b1kJ1yRZ_KBYZX4xQqOwmzqzUlnO80TiibkJDmqAEBmprTmuNZu_LgKTLkpzAdFLOd9jBv2yrAZ8GoDtDfCeLWP9IBVTDxYnjeaqbT0a-lc9ciRXGrNuitSzFSfdgKHgVzqGCPu3GaxAQk_KujvE1FmgXl9p3FckGLOfC27EisO3p/s1862/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-27%20at%201.27.49%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1862" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGdV4fDu85Aa6OB47b1kJ1yRZ_KBYZX4xQqOwmzqzUlnO80TiibkJDmqAEBmprTmuNZu_LgKTLkpzAdFLOd9jBv2yrAZ8GoDtDfCeLWP9IBVTDxYnjeaqbT0a-lc9ciRXGrNuitSzFSfdgKHgVzqGCPu3GaxAQk_KujvE1FmgXl9p3FckGLOfC27EisO3p/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-27%20at%201.27.49%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Martin Kove and James Earl Jones in BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Long-neglected and newly-restored BLOODTIDE is a hybrid of several horror/thriller types, from deadly sea creature to underwater treasure hunting to creepy village full of spooked locals (led by Jose Ferrer) with dark secrets...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>One involves a cover-up, but only because American couple Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller entered the Greek island in the first place, seeking his sister (and plot-McGuffin) Deborah Shelton, an oddball/artistic brunette beauty contrasting the blondes also including Lydia Cornell, girlfriend of James Earl Jones...</p><p><span></span></p>

creature, deborah shelton, eighties, ensemble, exploitation, gothic, horror, island, james earl jones, jaws-clone, jose ferrer, lila kedrova, lydia cornell, martin kove, mary-louise weller, treasure

OBSCURE CULT EXPLOITATION OF 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'DEMON ISLAND'

Martin Kove and James Earl Jones in BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2 Long-neglected and newly-restored BLOODTIDE is a hybrid of several h...

GILLIAN HILLS STARRING IN HAMMER'S 'DEMONS OF THE MIND'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOh2BmxoIF6dnAzQqePCMDqGHe3BuqpJMrpA6WLA0Vqxus3ND8OiopDHtdQrAJp6FamyG6j9SL7Ywq3kYa26IJGKzGF8-f6z25FvfWxf9NgNB6k5Mj-ES4F7ypnmmKI39bWmBqQAtrXODT/s1785/2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="1785" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOh2BmxoIF6dnAzQqePCMDqGHe3BuqpJMrpA6WLA0Vqxus3ND8OiopDHtdQrAJp6FamyG6j9SL7Ywq3kYa26IJGKzGF8-f6z25FvfWxf9NgNB6k5Mj-ES4F7ypnmmKI39bWmBqQAtrXODT/w400-h308/2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gillian Hills in Demons of the Mind Year: 1972 Rates: **</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was inevitable to become a disappointing spooky-titled horror flick since DEMONS OF THE MIND means that there are none... </p><p>No demons, and for one of Hammer's last psychological thrillers, no monsters at all, unless you count a young man slaying young ladies along the countryside, not far from a Gothic castle where a manipulative father attempts keeping his children locked up, believing they're cursed...</p><p></p><p>Hammer wanted James Mason in this patriarchal role, and it would have made a huge difference since Robert Hardy seems too young and lacks magnetism in controlling his bed-ridden daughter Gillian Hills <i>and</i> especially the beastly son, who share an incestual lust between killings... </p><p>Random violence which there needed <i>much more of</i> to counter nowhere subplots and ultimately wasted side-characters (like nice guy med-student Paul Jones and his mad scientist mentor Patrick Magee), who take time away from Hills' victimized ingenue, a Hammer scream queen with very little to scream about: Damn shame since she alone, with such intense, bewildered beauty, had the most potential to really <i>possess</i> this thing!</p><span></span>

body count, gillian hills, gothic, hammer films, horror, patrick magee, peter sykes, seventies, shane briant, thriller, virginia wetherell

GILLIAN HILLS STARRING IN HAMMER'S 'DEMONS OF THE MIND'

Gillian Hills in Demons of the Mind Year: 1972 Rates: ** It was inevitable to become a disappointing spooky-titled horror flick since DEMONS...

JOANNA GOING & REBECCA STAAB IN THE REVIVAL 'DARK SHADOWS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcVM6J0rhpED_DJkWD6TpJvUlYikbacZC7cb5FfekvFi2vhY9enF-wOe6DYubkmoRf3SWPtge0C0tuRm0NBSW3F8Y5s8Y5Y8OnxLRiOTFs_4ydk20-glHp7NAu9XJYIVqJ5RXZ_DtvHjc2MaSWA6WaIJODMayXWP090g3O0i8s7a60jZrhvGYbn0J2jZi/s1578/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-28%20at%2011.00.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1476" data-original-width="1578" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcVM6J0rhpED_DJkWD6TpJvUlYikbacZC7cb5FfekvFi2vhY9enF-wOe6DYubkmoRf3SWPtge0C0tuRm0NBSW3F8Y5s8Y5Y8OnxLRiOTFs_4ydk20-glHp7NAu9XJYIVqJ5RXZ_DtvHjc2MaSWA6WaIJODMayXWP090g3O0i8s7a60jZrhvGYbn0J2jZi/w400-h374/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-28%20at%2011.00.01%20PM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that holds up pretty well with a younger Barnabas Collins in Ben Cross, seeming more like a lovelorn college professor than vampire, but he does bare his fangs enough times into the likes of Rebecca Staab for a Body-Count Slasher/Horror element that ups (and progresses) the underline terror and suspense, mostly taking place in an old seaside manor where Collins rises/returns to an eccentric family that only knew him through a looming portrait from many, many years ago...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's no wonder the poor fella falls so quickly in love with the newly arrived babysitter of troubled boy Joseph Gordon-Levitt — and Joanna Going is the most beautiful actress to ever hit the small screen, ever, and is what makes this DARK SHADOWS intriguing and worthwhile... <br></p><p>Also like the original, we go back in time to Collins' own turf, the 1700's where snaky/flaky uncle Roy Thinnes can act sinister with the other family members, all somewhat benign before the Salem Inspired/Religious Zealot transition. But the show hits a big wall with the otherwise talented Lysette Anthony as an all-knowing/all-seeing phantom/wraith so powerful, vicious and vile, Collins loses his bite, and purpose (a young girl ghost is also a cop-out). Although by the end of the one and only season, Going and Cross's romance keeps the viewer intrigued... as we shall be, for eternity. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

barbara steele, ben cross, dan curtis, franchise, gothic, horror, jean simmons, joanna going, joseph gordon-levitt, lysette anthony, nineties, rebecca staab, reboot, roy thinnes, TV, vampire

JOANNA GOING & REBECCA STAAB IN THE REVIVAL 'DARK SHADOWS'

Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2 Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that...

CHARACTER-DRIVEN TRINITY OF THE 1972 THRILLER 'CHILD'S PLAY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpygxuFXFZOQmVsS0SIA2v3Wci9xCDIUYtoM63X9bNwB_zVJZHKp1jHdlMEHsj_WVJ0E-mfd86hDVgB8D4jsVJrr3kJq3xrWne5KdkClPXlhc-ZYAliJ8YODhSVQgzW1x__uK8ntUThe3H/s1600/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="757" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpygxuFXFZOQmVsS0SIA2v3Wci9xCDIUYtoM63X9bNwB_zVJZHKp1jHdlMEHsj_WVJ0E-mfd86hDVgB8D4jsVJrr3kJq3xrWne5KdkClPXlhc-ZYAliJ8YODhSVQgzW1x__uK8ntUThe3H/s400/1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Beau Bridges faces the boys of Child's Play YEAR: 1972</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In CHILD'S PLAY, from way back in 1972 and not involving a red-haired serial killer doll named Chucky, the development of the characters drives the suspense, and for today's standards, this could seem like a slow-moving, over-brooding, thrilless arthouse thriller, or a stage play adapted to the big screen. But what's really intriguing are the similarities with THE EXORCIST, which was being filmed when this hit theaters, but the book had been on the stands for several years...<br /> <br /> So for anyone who hasn't seen or doesn't want to see William Friedkin's brilliant and timeless GODFATHER of horror flicks, that opened the door for a number of slowburn Catholic-centered horror-thrillers, there are three particular characters: an old priest, a younger priest, and a possessed young girl. Replace the girl with an entire Catholic School of mostly bullying boys who, as we witness their odd behavior, are in some sort of... spell, or something... adding Mystery to the myriad of genres...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aGXXZmFRzz7Xz_zlK4IuJGQQQC5Ns6bUeirhyphenhyphenIBxPj2QnF_01rpq8DaDEPELLjUnx6keAW_9dfKPa8IZVbYahdQ6a-uAxwRzyp3IG4Y_zEKxje4Th8PD6gVFS1GDa1TbasV_KXujgZ4Q/s1600/58373150_689264531502726_7606556118243868672_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="242" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4aGXXZmFRzz7Xz_zlK4IuJGQQQC5Ns6bUeirhyphenhyphenIBxPj2QnF_01rpq8DaDEPELLjUnx6keAW_9dfKPa8IZVbYahdQ6a-uAxwRzyp3IG4Y_zEKxje4Th8PD6gVFS1GDa1TbasV_KXujgZ4Q/s400/58373150_689264531502726_7606556118243868672_n.jpeg" width="161" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Child's Play Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> We learn of everything through token white rabbit Beau Bridges, a former student who had returned as a teacher and greatly admired Robert Preston's vivacious, progressive English teaching priest, Joseph Dobbs, while immensely fearing a bitter old coot – Jerome Malley played by James Mason – who seems to be our primary antagonist, but as "the case" unfolds he could very well be a temperamental red herring...<br /> <br /> Leading to the best scenes involving conversations between Beau's pivotal and, for the most part, eventually ambiguous Paul Reis with the polar opposite instructors while the kids are but a sporadic break that really need no escaping from...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamRlrO4PIlZn2Z2rWw2c6FZwe31Vnfj75ZpkmH6m9cOBFrALDMXHkxriM0P991OPIQ6vhRqEzPaxjMVqAVjUgq0NtyfT8p7peFUQy7vlgBK5x_jdD4Bh-4qYJGFnwaRL8hb_og1q8SCo/s1600/13315623_10209762738287604_8314142365979052978_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgamRlrO4PIlZn2Z2rWw2c6FZwe31Vnfj75ZpkmH6m9cOBFrALDMXHkxriM0P991OPIQ6vhRqEzPaxjMVqAVjUgq0NtyfT8p7peFUQy7vlgBK5x_jdD4Bh-4qYJGFnwaRL8hb_og1q8SCo/s400/13315623_10209762738287604_8314142365979052978_n.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Child's Play DVD Artwork</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> For CHILD'S PLAY is more of a "Courtroom Drama" without a court and gavel. Bridges proceeds over the "testimonies" of both men although one is sold as being far more likable from the onset; yet this opinion remains more decided by the students than we, the hyper-alert audience, anticipating a twist to occur, especially with a character (Preston) so flawless. Meanwhile, we're (through Bridges) the Jury being swayed, maneuvered from one side to the other: Preston is charming and understandable on a universal level as Mason has a tortuous life that can be pitied, even beyond the death of his mother. And the characters develop from there.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexGVdLEVTxsbZQ_BSoyfsimi2ZVl_5lDzEjJgnFy7QmTHiyMXkQxkQiSsBpiwiR4dzSKaUskf5GI67pde3YPLlQ5ie9MEU_CU3L6zQDM64DlZU4g6QA5Eb6kIqVhaNlLYQmqvd3_Fhb4/s1600/a7a579d80651866692a03da4d66cfb9e.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexGVdLEVTxsbZQ_BSoyfsimi2ZVl_5lDzEjJgnFy7QmTHiyMXkQxkQiSsBpiwiR4dzSKaUskf5GI67pde3YPLlQ5ie9MEU_CU3L6zQDM64DlZU4g6QA5Eb6kIqVhaNlLYQmqvd3_Fhb4/s400/a7a579d80651866692a03da4d66cfb9e.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>If you can't beat it, show it just to kill it</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Director Sidney Lumet channels his signature New York gritty realism into the Gothic school where statues and cold walls keep that heated far-off reality as distant from the lens as it is the students, inhibiting a power, or perhaps merely channeling a hypnotic strength that needs no real explanations like, say, a ROSEMARY'S BABY. Leading to a conclusion with so much buildup it begs for palpable closure. And yet, CHILD'S PLAY clings to words beyond action and an enigmatic dark aura over nail-biting suspense. In some strange way, there doesn't need to be any end at all. You can hear these two men speaking for days.<br /> <br /> Sure there could have been scarier moments here and there, or even a dugout of fellow priest/teachers introduced to individually buy the farm when they wander off alone through the spooky campus. (Alright, that's very 1980's, but there are pockets of downtime when a few deaths would have livened the picture.) Hell, even THE EXORCIST had palpable "gotcha!" moments: cinematic caffeine never hurts. But CHILD'S PLAY centers more on the dark hypnosis than what derives from it. Adding to one of several films using THREE main male leads to override a more conventional formula, intriguing enough to keep the viewer tuned in even after the purpose becomes all too clear.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgaI60pfWZwQ_aFVzYwqOSryk-b3ar2WhteZmIC2-EShA1TqMHXsZd6B3qC4vW6evJ1TtTCAIFSVhjHRnzusSYAOABrkPExJw8mDXm4bYNWheDfFA1bxgdM9pZ7rxy6nyrWeNXJ8uPd7F/s1600/58380939_689252578170588_4107557604924850176_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxgaI60pfWZwQ_aFVzYwqOSryk-b3ar2WhteZmIC2-EShA1TqMHXsZd6B3qC4vW6evJ1TtTCAIFSVhjHRnzusSYAOABrkPExJw8mDXm4bYNWheDfFA1bxgdM9pZ7rxy6nyrWeNXJ8uPd7F/s1600/58380939_689252578170588_4107557604924850176_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Beau Bridges and James Mason in CHILD'S PLAY Year: 1972</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7dnPsm2FLdb_d3htRBJtCpsSTQTfYxA0tOZwSksVoqpOfE8Oq2i5ZZjrg9h8d3hZl_6efq4Zh5CgwR3NMFuQphFhvtZFFmxkf3OSFUjEPicPnJLJkfNBIL1WGAzpU1REqHAXdd7DVV9M/s1600/58373150_689264531502726_7606556118243868672_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE7dnPsm2FLdb_d3htRBJtCpsSTQTfYxA0tOZwSksVoqpOfE8Oq2i5ZZjrg9h8d3hZl_6efq4Zh5CgwR3NMFuQphFhvtZFFmxkf3OSFUjEPicPnJLJkfNBIL1WGAzpU1REqHAXdd7DVV9M/s1600/58373150_689264531502726_7606556118243868672_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Beau Bridges, James Mason and Robert Preston in Child's Play</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusiPUC6p58tJxKWFulSyn2n_Tz031WYZs-K3Wk4P5P5PyiGp_-ZmVq8YT5AZ_FaymIFpoNbM_XWkUpzzBgDMj4B0XNPFSep9KfTwC9Bk4gSfBrsLJm3YxyyWzSSCpm9d0Cu30i9b_t0o/s1600/13330914_10209762737607587_3836383268092112766_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusiPUC6p58tJxKWFulSyn2n_Tz031WYZs-K3Wk4P5P5PyiGp_-ZmVq8YT5AZ_FaymIFpoNbM_XWkUpzzBgDMj4B0XNPFSep9KfTwC9Bk4gSfBrsLJm3YxyyWzSSCpm9d0Cu30i9b_t0o/s1600/13330914_10209762737607587_3836383268092112766_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Beau Bridges and Robert Preston in Child's Play </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlf_kOhcENwPXMI9vLSI-qS8JGKnuFTXSfZ_O55GvAxY3-D8RgwZ59Ikl4zzZh64xwCHPXsmapKGojk3oUptJVf5gCZ-X1lloGXVTOw4zTb9bVhk5ZYGMUhfZP_UJlcwwCfnmun2VTCNt/s1600/57541755_689269471502232_6271058251123523584_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="846" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlf_kOhcENwPXMI9vLSI-qS8JGKnuFTXSfZ_O55GvAxY3-D8RgwZ59Ikl4zzZh64xwCHPXsmapKGojk3oUptJVf5gCZ-X1lloGXVTOw4zTb9bVhk5ZYGMUhfZP_UJlcwwCfnmun2VTCNt/s1600/57541755_689269471502232_6271058251123523584_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The boys of the music man as Robert Preston faces Beau Bridges in Child's Play</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

adaptation, beau bridges, gothic, horror, james mason, religion, robert preston, seventies, suspense, thriller

CHARACTER-DRIVEN TRINITY OF THE 1972 THRILLER 'CHILD'S PLAY'

Beau Bridges faces the boys of Child's Play YEAR: 1972 In CHILD'S PLAY, from way back in 1972 and not involving a red-haired ser...

DAVID BOWIE DOESN'T SUCK IN TONY SCOTT'S 'THE HUNGER'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlcFu56TX9Fn83Cy66xKHW9hMHFpiPiQbui-NjZ0bYj847aDi7N3je3510p5lfassDKVG0Lgg5r-zeAdk6TuUAw5GVmY1sKzDQJX2e3jQ9K84Da43JhiF148UHDNdKty83gLp3p_u9W4e/s1600/MV5BMTYyMTkwNzc1N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTg5NTUyNTM%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C1482%252C1000_AL_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1387" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlcFu56TX9Fn83Cy66xKHW9hMHFpiPiQbui-NjZ0bYj847aDi7N3je3510p5lfassDKVG0Lgg5r-zeAdk6TuUAw5GVmY1sKzDQJX2e3jQ9K84Da43JhiF148UHDNdKty83gLp3p_u9W4e/s400/MV5BMTYyMTkwNzc1N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTg5NTUyNTM%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C1482%252C1000_AL_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>David Bowie with Catherine Deneuve in THE HUNGER Year: 1983</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With quick editing and plenty of steamy close-ups, Tony Scott's movies often felt like music videos – yet this, unlike several of his other (more commercial) projects, is a really good video.<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Centering on Catherine Deneuve’s Miriam Blaylock, a gorgeous vampire holed up in a dark mansion with her husband of two thousand years, John, played with a subtle intensity by musician David Bowie, one of the few actors that could act and, halfway through, providing a surprise attack that truly underlines the pinnacle of the film's suspense, and who our dark anti-heroine promised “eternal life" to, which turned out being a gift with a price: After enough time, her lover’s begin aging rapidly: in the course of twenty-four they’re coffin-bound, for keeps. Which is John's dilemna, who tries seeking help a scientist bent on curing the fatal disease where teenagers can die of old age... <br>

beth ehlers, catherine deneuve, cliff deyoung, david bowie, eighties, gothic, lesbian, neo noir, susan sarandon, suspense, thriller, tony scott, vampire, willem defoe

DAVID BOWIE DOESN'T SUCK IN TONY SCOTT'S 'THE HUNGER'

David Bowie with Catherine Deneuve in THE HUNGER Year: 1983 With quick editing and plenty of steamy close-ups, Tony Scott's movies o...