31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 21: SPECTERS 1987 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

Strange late 80's Italian horror.

The thread bare plot involves a digging that somehow releases a demon who starts haunting and hunting the members of the party which is led by a US professor named Lasky (Donald Pleasense).

You don't see the demon until the final 10 minutes and you barely get a good look at it.

I didn't really understand a lot of what was going on but at least I had Trine Michelsen naked in a few scenes and that made it a bit better. I also really enjoyed seeing Erna Schurer in a small role. That brought back some great memories.

I was hoping for a better film and was disappointed. It just seemed all over the place with the horror angle and then Michelsen's character who was dating a member of Laskey's party.

If you're a fan of later Italian horror you might get a kick out of it. I can't say I didn't like the movie, but I was let down. The ending is what one would expect for any horror film of the era.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jack Taylor is 88.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 20: MUMMY'S REVENGE 1976 (TUBI)

I talked about this film 6 years ago when I received the disc from Sinister Cinema. This is what I said and it will cover most of what I want to say.

Spanish horror film starring Paul Naschy as an evil Egyptian ruler returned from the dead.

Naschy is Amenhoptep, an evil despot who rules under torture and death. He is soon overthrown and buried alive as a mummy. His mind is still active and will remain so.

Flash forward 3000 years and his tomb has been uncovered by a Prof. Nathan Stern (Jack Taylor) and is soon to be put on display for the world to see.

A stranger named Assad Bey arrives back in London when the mummy arrives and while passing himself off as a writer he is actually bringing Amenhotep back to life via blood sacrifices of virgins.

I like this film a lot and it does have it's moments. There are scenes where the mummy crushes a man's head and later smashes several faces to pulp.

Naschy does a very good job as the Mummy and it's always a pleasure to see Helga Line in ANYTHING. Here she plays the role of Bey's helper Zanufer, and yes she is hotter than hell.

This also seems to be a Naschy title that is always overlooked by most, but holds up very well today and is just as entertaining as anything else the man ever made.

If you want a good time for 90 minutes, check this one out.

Now, that is exactly what I wrote 6 years ago. I wanted to add that this is probably the absolute best quality print I have seen of this movie and highly recommend you check it out on TUBI streaming. It's another great Spanish horror film!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Mary Peach is 90, and Diana Lorys is 84.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 19: WEB OF THE SPIDER 1971 (SINISTER CINEMA)

Not to shabby of a remake of "Castle Of Blood".

If you've seen the earlier version you know the plot.

Anthony Franciosa stars as Alan Turner, a newspaperman who takes a bet that he can spend the night in a haunted castle. He is taken there by the castle's owner and Edgar Allen Poe (Klaus Kinski).

Once there Alan meets a beautiful woman named Elisabeth Blackwood (Michele Mercier) who is the sister of the owner. Alan falls in love with the delicious Elisabeth, but soon learns the terrible truth.

There are others in the castle as well and Alan learns that all of them, including Elisabeth a dead and come to life one night a year a re-live their murders and the murders they committed.

Antonio Margheriti has remade his own film from 6 years earlier and did a good job with it, as usual. I'm not sure why he remade it, but it works no matter what.

Mercier makes a very sexy female character here and she exudes a very different character than Barbara Steele in the original. That's a good thing however.

The rest of the cast includes Peter Carsten, Silvano Tranquilli, Karin Field and Irina Maleeva.

I really liked this Italian horror film and recommend you check it out as well.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 18: SANTA CLAWS 1996 (E.I. INDEPENDENT)

There is good and bad with this bizarre film from John Russo.

This shot in Pittsburgh "thriller" seems to be a combination of horror and soft core adult film. The plot concerns a beautiful "Scream Queen" named Raven Quinn (Debbie Rochon).

Raven is going thru a bad divorce and having problems keeping her children away from her acting as she is an actress who makes low budget horror film.

An obsessed fan named Wayne (Grant Kramer) seems to be her only friend, but we the viewer already know this isn't true. Wayne starts killing a few people in Raven's life, mainley at work. Wayne wants Raven only for himself.

There isn't much to the plot, but there are plenty of nice looking women dancing around naked and I believe this was done to pad this film out to 82 minutes. Otherwise it would have only been an hour.

The main reason I watched this movie was because of Rochon. She was/is one of the hottest women to ever appear in low budget cinema and I actually thought about casting her in a film of mine around this time, but I just couldn't get the money together.

Russo isn't much of a director here which isn't a shock. There is one scene where Rochon has just finished up a promo with her director played by Bill Hinzeman and you can actully hear director Russo say "we gottta clean up the cables so nobody trips on them".

I have heard directors in the background of movies before, but this is painfully obvious. Watch this only if you're a Debbie Rochon fan. The rest of the cast includes Dawn Michelucci, Karl Hardman, Marilyn Eastman, and Mary Beth Boyle.

RIP ROGER BROWNE 1930-2024

Argoman has passed away.

Roger Browne may not be too familiar to most of you, but he did appear in many great movies.

His most famous role for people here in the US was "Argoman: The Fantastic Superman" which is a great and fun film.

Some of his other film credits include "Killer Looks", "War Of The Robots", "Women In Cell Block 7", "Karzan", "Samoa, Queen Of The Jungle", "Hercules And The Princess Of Troy", "Password: Killa Agent Gordon".

Roger Browne passed away on October 11, 2024 at the age of 94.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 17: LEPTIRICA 1973 (TUBI)

This is also known as "The She-Butterfly".

This is a wonderful TV movie from Yugoslavia that perfectly captures folk-horror images and traditions in it's brief 64 minute running time.

An unemployed loser named Strahinja (Petar Bozovic) wants to marry a very beautiful girl named Radojka ( Mirjana Nikolic) but her father refuses to allow it as he cannot stand the young man and feels he is worthless.

Strahinja agrees to take a job at the local flour mill, which has been the place of four mysterious killings in the past and nobody will work there anymore.

The locals say it's haunted by Vampires. While that turns out to be true, it's the final twist at the end that makes you shake your head.

I won't say anymore except that this is a good little film and beware, it will drag in a couple of places, but not for long. Again, this is a prime example of folk-horror, and hopefully with it streaming it willl become much better known.\

The scenery is beautiful and captures the spirit of the movie very well. The print is subtitled in English. Check it out!!!

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 16: THE PREMONITION 1976 (TUBI)

Now this was one weird movie.

Sharon Farrell stars as Sheri Bennett a young woman who, along with her husband Miles (Edward Bell) adopted a child five years before and everyone seems happy.

One day at school Sherri sees a mysterious woman staring at her child Janie (Danielle Brisebois). This is when the trouble starts. The mysterious woman is Janie's biological mother who has been released from a mental hospital, and is obviously still crazy.

The woman, Andrea (Ellen Barber) is staying with a circus clown performer named Jude (Richard Lynch). Both plan to kidnap Janie, but their plans do not go as expected.

Both of these characters are insane and we find out that Jude is way more insane than Andrea. Jude kills her and he manages to get his hands on Janie. I won't say too much more, but this is a film that has all but disappeared and really needs to be seen by mystery and horror fans.

It takes off in several different direction with no explanation, but it still manages to satisfy. The rest of the cast includes Jeff Corey, Rosemary McNamara and the gorgeous Chitra Neogy.

I recommend you see this. You will NOT be disappointed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Erin Brown is 45.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 15: HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON 1970 (IMAGE)

Powerful Mario Bava film.

Stephen Forsyth stars as John Harrington, a wedding dress designer. In the first 5 minutes of the movie we hear John in the narration telling us he is a crazy murderer who enjoys killing women.

He has to keep killing women until he unlocks a repressed memory from his childhood. His marriage to his wife Mildred (Laura Betti) is not a happy one, but she refuses to give him a divorce.

The police suspect john of the murders we haven't seen, and one Inspector Russell (Jesus Puente) fights to prove John is a killer, but every time he comes close, John seems to have good luck and gets away.

John manages to kill his wife, and then n an interesting turn thr film becomes outright horror as her ghost haunts his every move. This bizarre film moves along at a breakneck speed to a climax that is very fitting for the material.

The others in the cast include Dagmar Lassander (wow), Femi Benussi (wow...wow), Antonia Mas, Luciano Pigozzi and Gerard Tichy.

This film has been avalable for years on various formats and is also available on streaming. It's Bava, it's Italian and it has Lassander and Benussi in it. What more could you ask for??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lynn Lowry is 77.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 14: DR. JEKYLL AND THE WEREWOLF 1972 (MONDO MACABRO) BLU-RAY

This is yet another movie I have written about several times.

Mondo Macabro finally managed to get this released on Blu-ray and it makes my favorite Paul Naschy film look better than ever.

Naschy stars as Waldamar Daninski once again. This time he rescues a very beautiful woman from an attempted rape by three men who also killed her husband.

The woman is called Justine and is essayed by the incredibly gorgeous Shirley Corrigan. She takes him to London where she introduces Waldarmar to Dr. Henry Jekyll (Jack Taylor) who is the grandson of the famous doctor.

Henry believes that he can cure Waldamar. Jekyll's assistant Sandra (Mirta Miller) is jealous overt he fact that Henry still loves Justine and thereby sets out to destroy everything.

In case you haven't seen this, I won't say too much ore on the plot, but it's a wild one. Some of the set pieces are unforgettable such as the elevator scene where Daninski is stuck and changes into a monster, the disco scene and many more.

There were no less than four different versions of this movie released in 1972. What we have on this great presentation is the "clothed" Spanish version which contans no nudity and then we have the "export" version which contains all the nudity and some extra violence.

The export version is culled from the original negative and other sources to make the best possible print. It's dubbed into English and is the version I prefer.

The Spanish version is subtitled. I guess I prefer the export version because it's the only one I ever saw, and seeing Corrigan topless as well as the other Spanish beauties is alway a plus.

This came out several months ago, and if you haven't already done so, I think you should really check it out. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Udo Kier is 80, Stacy Keibler is 45, and Cliff Richard is 84.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 13: FATAL GAMES 1984 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

I actually found this to be a fun slasher film.

A mad killer stalks an athletic school where young people are training for the Olympics.

This is very much like the movie "Graduation Day" but I found it to be more entertaining. The killer uses a javelin as a murder weapon and in this movie he goes after both men and women.

As is so usual in these kinds of movies, some of the characters are nothing but annoying and others are the kind you'd like to know. The movie is a swift 88 minutes and the presentation on the Blu-ray is nothing short of amazing considering the other prints I have seen of this.

I will say the casting director knew how to pick very sexy women for the roles. The cast includes Sally Kirkland, Lynn Banashek, Teal Roberts, Spice Williams-Crosby, Melissa Prophet, Angela Bennett, Lauretta Murphy and Nicholas Love.

If you haven't seen the movie I can't say too much without destroying the very twisted ending, but when you see it you'll know where they got their idea from, and I believe they used it very well. I never saw it coming...lol.

I recommend this little thriller and hope it slowly becomes better known after this release from VS. It deserves better.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ashanti Douglas is 44, Demond Wilson is 78, and Judy Bamber is 88.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 12: ILYA MUROMETS 1958 (IMAGE)

Another fine adventure/fantasy film from Russia.

Any fan of fantastic cinema has seen this film under the US title "Sword And The Dragon" which was very entertaining, but this is the original Cinemascope version and it blows the other away.

Ilya Muromets (Boris Andreyev) is a man with legs that don't seem to work. He helps some lost travelers and they give him a potion that makes him walk again.

He immediately sets out for adventure and prove to his King that he is a great warrior. Along the way he encounters a wind demon that he easily overcomes, fights Tugars and then a weird being known as The Noid, a huge man-like being that reminded me of a balloon or something like that.

During the course of the film Ilya is framed for a crime he didn't commit but finally gets out of jail and helps his kingdom finally defeat the Tugars once and for all.

The dragon is still impressive for the mid 1950's but come to think of it the entire damned movie is impressive. Communist Russia had some very talented actors, actresses and movie people in general.

Everything in the film looks so "fantasy" like and it really works well. This is a magical film and one that should be seen by anyone who appreciates solid entertainment.

The film is in Russian, but has English subtitles.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Deborah Foreman is 62, Susan Anton is 74,and Robin Askwith is 74.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 11: REPULSION 1965 (CRITERION) BLU-RAY

An all time classic.

Very simply put, this is a story of madness coming to the surface.

Beautiful Catherine Deneuve stars as Carol Ledoux, a very quiet and somewhat disturbed woman who lives with her older sister and works as a manicurist.

Carol is repulsed by men and even more so by the thought of one touching her or kissing her. For this reason she hates her sister boyfriend. Her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) decides to go on a trip with her boyfriend Michela (Ian Hendry) and this, of course leaves Carol alone.

She slowly decends into madness as she imagines cracks in the walls getting bigger and hands come out to grab her. She dreams of a man raping her and she never leaves the apartment. She kills a young man who kicks in her door and then she also kills the landlord who comes to collect the rent and then wants more from Carol.

The bodies are hidden in the apartment as Carol slowlt goes insane. I find this movie to be one of the best horror films of it's time, and of this time to be honest.

The images Carol sees and dreams of are the stuff of nightmares and madness. This woman really has some problem let me tell you. The rest of the cast includes John Fraser, Patrick Wymark, James Villiers and Reneer Houston.

I cannot recommend this enough. This is a MUST see.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 10: THE BLOODY JUDGE 1970 (BLUE UNDERGROUND) BLU-RAY

It has been a while since I saw this movie, and I just had to pick it up on Blu-ray.

The look of the movie is a great improvement over the old DVD release and so is the 4K-UHD version, of course. Call me what you will, but I bought this for the somewhat perverse but alluring package.

I consider this to be one of Jess Franco's best movies. The story surrounds one Judge Jeffries (Christopher Lee) who uses the justice system to satisfy his own sexual and political whims.

This is based on a real character in British history and in some cases Franco stayed true to history, others he went off on wild tangents, but this is to be expected.

There are some excellent scenes involving the war going on at the time. The movie veers many times into witch hunting and it is the many torture scenes that have made this movie famous.

After all you have incredibly sexy women like Diana Lorys, Margaret Lee and Maria Rohm in various state of undress and being tortured, and that is considered cinema gold.

The rest of the cast includes Leo Genn, Hans Hass, Jr., Maria Schell, Peter Martell, Howard Vernon, and Serena Vergano.

If you haven't seen this, give it a try. I really think you might like it. It has everything a movie like this should have and you can tell Franco had some money behind him on this one. The Blue Underground presentation is nothing short of spectacular.

Lastly, the print has the title "Night Of The Blood Monster" on it, but "Bloody Judge" is much better.

RIP ELISA MONTES 1934-2024

The beautiful Spanish actress has passed away.

Montes made many, many movies and TV shows in her 55 year career.

Some of the movies you might remember her from include "Samson And The Mighty Challenge", "Eric The Viking", and "Django The Honorable Killer".

Her beauty was really on display in such fare as "Island Of The Doomed", "99 Women" and "Girl From Rio" which are the three films she is most remembered for by US audiences.

She had quite a career and I loved her in everything I saw her in. Elisa Montes passed away on October 8th, 2024 at the age of 89.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 9: BEAKS 1987 (TUBI)

I found this to be fun...stupid but fun.

A gorgeous reporter named Vanessa Cartwright (Michelle Johnson) is given a story she really does not want to cover. Who can blame her, it's a story about a farmer being attacked by his chickens!

Before long she and her cameraman Pete (Christopher Atkins) learn that large flocks of birds are attacking all over the world. This leads to some great slow motion attacks by birds and close ups of them pecking and tearing skin as well as eyes out of their sockets.

This is a movie that was sold in Italy as being a sequel to the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film "The Birds"!!

It has an abrupt ending as all of a sudden the attacks stop as Vanessa makes a plea to people over international TV that we must all live in harmony with nature.

Just then director Rene Cardona, Jr. throws us a curve by having us hear all minds of buzzing in the backgound as I can only assume it's bees, or maybe flies...who knows.

It's always good to see Michelle Johnson in anything, and she does make this very watchable. If you wanna have some fun then check this movie out.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 8: DEMENTIA 1955 (KINO)

Since most of you already know of this movie and I have talked about it before, I will make this short and sweet.

This is the original version of the film "Daughter Of Horror". It does not contain the narration from Ed McMahon, but it still works on every single level.

The movie has no dialogue and it one of the best trips into an insane person ever conceived. Everything in the film is a nightmare and twisted as a young woman tries to escape her inner mind.

All I can say is this is MUST viewing. Either version is fine, and I don't have a preference. This was my first time seeing the original version.

Check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Olive Sturgess is 91.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 07: BLOOD STORY 2013 (BRAIN DAMAGE)

Another so-so thriller from the modern age of filmmaking.

This story revolves around three stranger who are gathered at a villa. All are there to find the fabled Fountain Of Youth.

However there is an evil force working behind the scenes. Camden Toy is Francis, the leader of a cult of people who worship Elizabeth Bathory.

One of the three people at the villa, Madison Scheffield (Mindy Robinson) finds that the bathing in blood actually works as it removes scars from her breasts, and when she discovers that there is a treasure hidden there, she vows to return.

One year later she returns and this sets up many twists and turns with things not exactly like she thought they were. I won't say too much more in case you want to see this thing.

Robinson is a very, very attractive woman except for her tattooed back, but then what can I expect in a modern movie. There is some light gore and even lighter bondage. It's like the director felt he had to hold back in order for the movie to work. He shouldn't have held back so much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Judy Landers is 66, and Celeste Bonin is 38.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 06: FACE BEHIND THE MASK 1941 (IMPRINT) BLU-RAY

Now this is how to make a movie!!

It's always good to see a quality movie after having sifted thru many modern films of sub standard quality.

Peter Lorre stars as Janos, a Hungarian immigrant who upon arriving in the USA with big dreams has his face scarred and disfigured in a fire.

His hideous looks prevent him from getting employment so he turns to a life of crime and finds the payoff bigger than he expected. What hasn't changed is his knowning right from wrong.

He meets a sweet blind woman named Helen Williams (Evelyn Keyes) and they fall in love. Janos tells her of the mask he must wear and what happened to him, but that doesn't change her feelings for him.

Janos decides to leave the gang he formed and live a quiet life with Helen. One of the gang members, Jeff Jeffries (James Seay) sets out to kill Janos for being a traitor.

Sadly it's Helen that is killed and Janos plots a revenge on all the members of the gang but his good and trusted friend Dinky (George E. Stone).

The ending to this thriller is very bittersweet and yet very just. Director Robert Florey handles the film just perfectly, and I wish this film was seen more often.

It's a gem from Columbia Studios and any film noir or Peter Lorre fan will want to see this. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Britt Ekland is 82.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 05: DARK AUGUST 1976 (ARROW)

Interesting but very odd supernatural tale.

A man is cursed by the grandfather of a young girl he accidentally killed. The man, Sal Devito ( J.J. Barry) is constantly tormented by seeing the old man and also a cloaked figure that reminds me of the Grim Reaper.

This is what people call a slow boil horror film as the effects of what Sal did are very slowly consuming him and deiving him crazy. The film takes a lot of time to show all of this, and that is its problem.

It's always good for a film to develope it's plot, but in this case it takes too long and most viewers don't like that. For me it was a great trip back to a better time, meaning the 1970's.

Kim Hunter appears as Adrianna Putnam, a local witch that tries to help Sal, but is killed by the old man. Her character doesn't show up for the first hour and it seemd it was all rushed from there.

However, I liked the movie and I have read a lot of bad things about it, but as I aways say, watch and decide for yourself if this is your cup of tea.

The final for the movie is odd and offbeat to say the least.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Laura Gemser is 74, Nancy Barrett is 81 and Terri Runnels is 58.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 04: RUNAWAY NIGHTMARE 1982 (VINEGAR SYNDROME) BLU-RAY

I have never seen a movie like this one, but when I was watching it I had the strange feeling I have seen this before.

I will say, the movie is VERY original. Two down on their luck worm farmers played by the director Mike Cartel and Al Valetta see two men burying a box in the desert.

They dig up the box and find a beautiful blonde inside and she is still alive. They take her to their place only to be attacked and kidnapped by a gang of beautiful women.

The women are working for the syndicate and they are in the process of stealing some valuable Platinum. Ralph and Jason are accepted into the group. Cartel's character of Ralph is spot on to me. He is cynical and spiteful of the women, and he knows everything will end in disaster.

Jason however is having a good time with the beautiful ladies. When it comes time to steal the Platinum we find out it's actually Plutonium and we are treated to a scene much like that in the 1955 classic "Kiss Me Deadly" when the "great whatsit" it opened.

The ending of the film however takes us into bizarre horror movie territory, and that is fine with me. There are many beautiful women in this film, and lets face it, they carry the movie.

If you are in the mood for something completely different and fun with some good comedy thrown in, you might want to check out this Blu-ray release.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Kyra Schon is 67, Kerry Sherman is 71, and Lori Saunders is 83.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 03: THE THIRSTING 2007 (TUBI)

What a piece of junk.

I thought with Tina Krause and other lovely women in it, this film was going to be tolerable....NOPE.

The plot such as it is revolves around several sexy college girls who bring forth the demon Lilith and the problems it causes in their lives.

One by one they are killed and it's so damned confusing I gave up caring about anything but seeing the words "The End".

I guess my main question is how in the world did Mickey Rooney end up in this crap? Avoid at all costs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Pamela Hensley is 74.

31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN DAY 02: BUTCHER BAKER NIGHTMARE MAKER 1981 (SEVERIN) BLU-RAY

I have heard about this movie for probably 25 years and finally got the chance to see it the other day, and man what a bizarre film it is.

Jimmy McNichol stars as 17 year old Billy Lynch who has been cared for by his aunt Cheryl Roberts (Susan Tyrrell) since he was three when his parents were killed in a bizarre traffic accident that we see in all it's glory in the opening scenes.

The viewer kind of gets the idea something ain't right when we see how Cheryl looks at the couple when they leave their son with him and head out on vacation.

Cheryl has an unhealthy attraction to Billy and is determined to keep him from going to college at any cost. When Cheryl murders the TV repairman we then know what is really going on...or do we?

Detective Joe Carlson (Bo Svenson) suspects Billy in the killings and believes he is gay which is why he committed murder. Carlson is very narrow minded and refuses to see many clues that are right in front of him. His hatred of gay men has caused him to ignore everything else.

All of this trouble causes a rift between Billy and his girlfriend Julie (Julia Duffy). However, the most twisted and memorablle part of the film is watching Tyrrell's character of Cheryl go from slightly paranoid to complete neanderthal killer by the end of the film. Damn, once seen it isn't soon forgotten.

If you want to see a really downbeat and bizarre film check this one out. To me it really lives up to it's reputation and it not to be missed by horror fans.

The Blu-ray is perfect in presentation and again, you really gotta see this gem.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tiffany is 53, Karissa Shannon is 35, and Kristina Shannon is 35.