Hands of the Ripper (1971)

Genre: Horror, Serial Killer

Source: Netflix Instant View

Grade: B+

Ever since I first heard about the Jack the Ripper cases I have been completely fascinated by it and have made a point of watching ever movie and documentary about him. As well as reading ever book I can get my hands on about him. Anyway`s that being said Hands of the Ripper is not truly a straight up account of Jack The Ripper like I thought it was going to be, but rather he`s more of a subplot. This movie is actually much more about Jacks daughter who at a very young age witnessed her mother get brutally murdered by her father Jack The Ripper, now fifteen years later she`s an extremely emotionally disturbed girl whose seemingly possessed now by her father which causes her now to do these brutal murders while in a trance.
     As you can see they took a unique spin on Jack the Ripper and to my relief it turned out very good. One thing I noticed that really impressed me was how they took this one cliché and made like they were going to follow this cliché but then to my surprise they went in a totally opposite direction ending the movie in a way I wasn't expecting. I would tell you what happened but it would completely spoil a few things, so your just going to have to go see it your self.
          Another thing I truly loved was the very authentic looking set design. It thoroughly looks like grimy gloomy Victorian era London. Which in my personal opinion is one of the best settings for a horror movie. Also this is also due to the great direction of Peter Sasdy, whose by far one of my favourite directors from Hammer Studio. He definitely captured the right atmosphere and mood for this movie. One thing though about this movie though is since it was rated R but there wasn't as much nudity or violence as I thought there would be. Infact I don`t remember any nudity at all, but even though there's not a lot of violence but when there is violence its very graphic and gross, (example; a prostitute trys to cover her eyes with her hand but the killer put`s the needles straight into her eyes with gross sound effects and plenty of blood)

          Overall I very much enjoyed this little lesser known Hammer horror movie from the early 70s. It had a great cast who all played there roles very well, especially Eric Porter who played the psychiatrist. It was very well directed and the violence was very satisfying, especially since they didn't go to over the top with it. So i`d definitely recommend this to any fans of Hammer Horror who haven`t seen this movie already or to someone looking for a unique twist on Jack The Ripper. The only ones I can`t really recommend this to are people who hate sad endings, cause this movie has anything but a happy ending.

Abominable (2005)

Genre: Horror,Monster

Source: My Own Collection

Grade: A+

Without a doubt this the greatest Syfy channel original movie I have ever seen. As well as being one of the best Bigfoot/Yeti horror movie`s ever made. But what's just really great about this movie was is just how everything is so well done for a low-budget horror film, and you can just tell everone had a great time making this movie. Which in the end result really makes a difference quality wise.

    Beginning with the movie`s story, the best way to really describe it is its Hitchcocks Rear Window except with Bigfoot. The story also flows at a good pace and is never slow or boring. As for the characters there's quite a few unique and interesting characters that we get to follow. Such as our main character who`s a paraplegic mountain climber (hence one of the reasons why I compare this to Rear Window), then there's his dick headed male nurse who`s anything but comforting for our main character, and then it there's this odd store-owner who`s on oxygen yet at the same time he`s a chain smoker, his character is pretty much the bigfoot expert of the movie to. As well as providing much of the comic relief.
          Now the monster was awesome! They made this bigfoot incredibly ugly and nasty looking. But best of all the bigfoot is the traditional guy in the costume, not some awful CGI abomination! Which I tell you what makes all the difference in quality alone. Then the way the bigfoot goes about killing everyone was brutal and very bloody. I think my favourite kill was when this one guy gets his face bitten clean off, that was grotesque. There  are of course plenty of other great kills in this movie, which let me put it this way, proves that this movie was well deserving of its R rating.
         The films cast was also really good to. There were some pretty notable cult icons in this movie such as Dee Wallace who had role at the very beginning of the movie, Gance Henriksen who has a funny role as the town sheriff, and Jeffrey Combs  from Re-Animator even has a role. The actors who I wasn`t familiar with were also very good. There was just none of that uninterested and awful acting that's usually associated with Syfy channel original movie`s.

       In all this is just an outstanding horror movie that succeeds in providing both genuine scary`s and suspense as well having some hilarious humour occasionally thrown in there.The special features were great and very fun to watch, the making-of feature was very interesting and informative to watch, and of course the bloopers, deleted scenes, and story board gallery were all fun to watch. Then there was this superb short film in the features called Shadows, this was a surprisingly remarkable little movie that was very well made. Anyway`s yes I have to say i`d highly recommend this little horror film to any horror movie fan and it currently holds position as my all time favourite Syfy channel original horror movie, (KAW is a close second though).
   
Now before I end this review I feel obligated to thank my friend Matt for convincing me to buy this DVD at Big Lots for three dollars, by far the best three dollars i`ve spent in quite sometime.

Mongolian Death Worm (2010)

Genre: Horror,Monster

Source: TV (Syfy Channel )

Grade: D+

Wow,were do I even begin with this. Well I suppose I start off by saying the movie`s poster is 1000x better then the movie itself. On top of that I was just sorely let down by the movie, I thought this Syfy channel original movie had potential at being on of the good ones like Abominable and Kaw, but no sadly this is a huge disappointment and an incredibly weak movie overall.
        Now for everyone who doesn't know this, the Mongolian Death Worm is a actual supposedly possibly real monster and there actual sightings of these. Its in a way the Loch Ness Monster or Bigfoot of Mongolia. Infact the first time I had actually heard of these was in an episode of Destination Truth were they went looking for these. Now with that being said this movie bears little resemblance to the traditional legends of these Death Worms. In this the Death Worms are like sacred guardians of Genghis Khans tomb and have been disturbed by a oil drilling company, leading the things to naturally go on a killing spree. OK so not a terrible plot, unfortunately they don`t take make advantage of it and instead seem to try and incorporate a bunch of pointless subplots that do nothing more than give this movie the appearance that they were trying to hard to do too much with there obviously small budget. Also all it led to were noticeable plot inconstancies. 
       
      One thing I noticed right away though was this movie`s supposed  to take place in Mongolia, and I already know for a fact the only place the Death Worm lives is in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Which in fact is one of the most desolate places in the whole world. BUT according to this movie it looks just like the lush country side of Texas, and I guess according to this movie all Mongolian`s speak perfect English, and I guess the police there wear cowboy boots, jeans, and cowboy hats? So obviously this movie did not feel like incorporating an authentic view Mongolia and its culture.
         The Death Worms themselves were passable at least. They looked kinda cool and didn't have that terrible CGI look that so many of these movie`s have. Though one thing I noted during this movie was the Worms roar? I mean could worms even roar if they wanted to? Oh, and a heads up they are not nearly as big as they look on the poster.
     
       As for the acting its pretty dreadfully bad. With the exception of maybe Sean Patrick Flanery who to me seemed like he putting his all in to this movie, but sadly that couldn't even save this movie. I did read though from the accounts of some people who played extras in this movie that Flanery was being sort of a baby during the production of this movie. He was supposedly like making really big deals out of little things such as them not having a certain ice cream flavour on set. But in his defence I read that this was filmed in 105 degree weather, so yeah i`d probably be cranky to. As for the rest of the cast they hardly even showed any effort so i`m not even going to go into that.
         To sum this movie up its pretty bad and such a disappointment. I actually really wanted to like this movie to, it had an actor who I actually liked in it, a cool looking monster, and a basic synopsis that sounded promising. Its a shame none of these were able to hold up and the movie ending up being really cheesy and flat out bad. Stuff like roaring worms, a Mongolia that  looks like Texas, bad subplots, and a strange lack of scenes that actually even have the Death Worms, are what makes this movie one that I find very hard to even recommend to anyone, unless of course your looking for a good laugh.

The Tomb (1986)

Genre: Horror,Mummy

Source: Netflix Instant View

Grade: F

 I really enjoyed John Carradines lengthier then expected cameo appearance and I thought the music selected for the soundtrack was amusing. Well there you have it thouse are the only good things I can say about this piece of no budget crap of  a movie.

      Its not only just  a really lame and ridiculous movie, its a complete cheap cash off of Indiana Jones, any mummy movie ever made, and just about almost ever thing that that was popular from that era. Also the story really reminded me of the novel "The Jewel Of Seven Stars" by Bram Stocker. Well come to find out it was they just gave Mr.Stocker no credit. Which is probably best because they basically raped the story for all it was worth. Also this was just one of those movies that as soon as the intro started I knew this was gonna really suck, it starts off with a weird Indiana Jones style thing, gun fights included. Except unlike Indiana Jones this was dumb, I just want to know how 5 Arab thugs could fit into a two person plane? Which is another thing the first part of the movie`s supposed to be like in Egypt I think, only its super obvious it was filmed in like Joshua Tree California. Because i`m a little hazy on the abundance of Joshua Trees the Egyptian desert has but according to this movie they are all over the freaking place.

   Aside from all that the second part of the movie`s no better if not worse. All this leads up to one of the worst climax's I have ever seen. The climax was incredibly random and didn't even make very much sense. Of course by then i`d long sense given up on the movie. The "mummy" itself was not the traditional shrouded kind of mummy like in many of the Universal mummy movie`s. This mummy was a female mummy (who did not look at all Egyptian and spoke perfect English) who wore no shrouds and was more of a resemblance to Hammers mummy in Blood of the Mummys Tomb. One thing that bothered me about this mummy was she didn't even really have mummy characteristics instead it was more of a vampire thing she had going on. She had like vampire fangs and she drank blood of the living to maintain her youthful look.
    The actress who portrayed the mummy was awful to. Her performance was absolutely indescribable in terribleness.On a more positive note John Carradine had a much more lengthy cameo appearance then I was expecting. He plays an expert in Egyptology and who are main characters go to seeking information. In all he has about eight minutes total of screen time.

    To sum it all up this movies absolutely horrendous. Only things even remotely good were its short running time its only one hour and twenty four minutes long thankfully I didn't have to suffer too long at least. The music is like I said amused to say the least, not good but amusing and then of course the John Carradine cameo was nice. Besides all of that its nothing but rip-off`s of other movie`s, terrible acting, random idiotic happenings  and a very lame mummy. I truly could not be more disappointed in this movie.

The Evictors (1979)

Genre: Horror, Thriller, Based on a True Story

Source: Netflix Instant View

Grade: A

You know what, I really love it when I sit down to watch a movie thinking its either going to be really bad or mabe be just alright, but by the time i`m finished as with The Evictors I end up truly loving the movie. Far and away exceeding my expectations. Yes I truly enjoyed this movie it had genuine suspense sequences, some pretty scary scenes that made me jump, and an overall great job in direction by its notorious director Charles B. Pierce (dir of the legend of boggy creek).

  The films story is basically about a young couple in Louisiana who rent a house in a small town but are stalked and attacked by its former in inhabitants who have killed everyone who have lived in their house since they got evicted. A bit like the movie Cold Creek Manor, except better and more realistic. There are also about three twists at the end of the movie. One of them I actually predicted , but the other two I did not really see coming. Then like I said earlier there are a lot of at the edge of your seat suspense sequences. There were a lot of scenes that everything would appear normal but I would know in my mind something bad was going to happen, just when was the question. Yes, a lot of that kind of suspense. Also when the antagonist does appear its always in some freaky way that would make me jump in surprise.

      Another thing i`d like to compliment about the movie is the style of directing Charles B. Pierce used, It gave the movie the feel and suspense it needed. I also appreciated how he made all the flash back sequences in the colour sepia, giving it a good 1920s and 30s look/feel. The movie is supposed to take place in the 40s, which I feel he succeed in giving it a genuine 40s look, I say that mostly because sometimes i`ll watch these and it will look like say the 80s when its supposed to take place in the 40s or 30s.

     Anyhow to wrap this up i`m going to have to say this is a great horror movie that I can recommend to almost any horror fan. It`s got great suspense sequences and the pacing of the film is perfect, its never to slow or boring. The costumes and set design is detailed and well done which helps the movie achieve its atmosphere Finally Charles B.Pierce is simply at his best here, it makes me really want to watch his other movie he made The Town That Dreaded Sundown. So altogether its a great movie that completely surprised me, and is now one of my favourite 70s horror movie`s.

Crucible Of Horror (1970)

Genre: Horror, Psychological

Source: Netflix Instant Que

Grade: A-

 This Small 1970 psychological horror film starring Michael Gough completely caught me off guard in its amazing story and production values. The only thing about this movie I can`t understand is why its still so overlooked and underrated! With  its great cast and awesome story which kept me intrigued and always interested; I cannot see any reason someone would not want to watch this movie.

     Story wise the films about a mother and daughter hatching a scheme to kill their family's domineering and sadistic patriarch (played by Michael Gough). The thing is they think that they kill him when they don`t actually, so in return he gives them extreme psychological torture. In a very Edgar Allan Poe style I must note. I do think the movie had the right atmosphere to, it was of great unease and tension, I could seriously feel it radiating off the screen. The artistic angle taken by the director was also very good, I believe the artistic liberty he went with payed off in the end. Giving the movie a feel in a way it probably wouldn't `t have gotten otherwise.

   Most of all though I must applaud Michael Gough performance in this. He was calm, yet at the same time madly sadistic and unreasonable. I can`t help but feel that this movie would`t be the way it was if it had not been for Michael Gough having the role he did. Now some interesting trivia I found out about this movie was the person who plays his son in this movie was his real life son Simon Gough and his daughter who he abuses so much is played by his real life daughter in law Sharon Gurney.

  So in conclusion I feel Crucible Of Horror or aka The Corpse (as it was originally titled in England) is a phenomenal psychological horror movie. With an outstanding performance from Michael Gough as well as the rest of the relatively small cast. I also must say this movie was well deserving of its R rating there were some pretty sadistic violent nude scenes in this movie that i`m not even going to get into, but those scenes definitely helped give this movie that edgy, uneasy, and tense atmosphere.

The Snow Creature (1954)

Genre: Horror, Monster, Yeti

Source: My Own Collection

Grade: C-

I believe the biggest thing this movie has to its name is its the very first movie about a yeti, and that is about it. Other then that this movie is a silly, sometimes slow, and very low budget monster movie. That tried a little to hard to be like King Kong.

    The basic story is not to bad; a expedition in the Himalayas gets sidetracked after the guides wife is kidnapped by a yeti, so the crew catch`s it and brings it to Los Angeles were it of course escapes and wrecks havoc, sound familiar? It seems instead of trying to create it`s own thing this movie tries to cash off King Kong and failed epically in the attempt. Then the films ending was extremely anticlimactic! Which brings me to another thing that annoyed me about this movie, they used the same exact shot of the yeti appearing out of darkness at least ten times throughout the movie, which I suppose you could blame on its extremely low  budget.On top of that the yeti didn't look very cool. I mean just look at the poster what does that even remind you of !? The answer for me is NOT a yeti. But at least the yeti has a very minimal amount of screen time, In fact he`s hardly in it at all, when I think about it. But there are a couple yeti  "attacks" that were super lame and mostly obscured by darkness and shadows. As for the cast of actors in this film most were pretty dang average, and nothing special. Only Paul Langton who played the main character was the only person who put in a minimal amount of effort into his character

 Altogether I really don`t have much to talk about in regards to this movie, other then its the first movie based on a yeti. Though its far from the best movie based on yetis that title goes to the awesome 1957 Hammer horror movie The Abominable Snowman staring Peter Cushing. now that is an incredible movie that outshines this movie in ever way possible. Its just The Snow Creature is a ridiculous movie and try`s to hard to be like movie`s such as  King Kong and Them!, but what I did appreciate about this movie was despite it being stupid I was not bored sure there were a couple painfully slow parts like when they dedicate about 10 mins to an argument regarding if the yeti needs a passport to enter the U.S.A, i`m not kidding and the movie takes this completely seriously. But none the less it was entertaining and I give it credit for that. Unlike that other stupid monster movie I watched PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES were it on the other hand was both really stupid and really boring.
   Unless your a fan of really bad cinema or your a Bigfoot/Yeti enthusiast who`s trying to watch ever movie based on Bigfoots and Yetis. I cannot truly recommend this movie to you.