The Car (Directed by Elliot Silverstein-1977)

Killer car movies of the late 70's may not seem like the easiest genre to recommend but this, along with Christine and Speilberg's Duel, are exciting and highly watchable slices of nostalgic fun. And while The Car is obviously as silly as it sounds, it's also genuinely terrifying at times and looks fantastic on DVD (I'm assuming this won't be making it onto Bluray anytime soon and for that I'm quite glad as it doesn't really need any further special treatment). The story couldn't be much simpler. Starring as the local sheriff, James Brolin has the unconventional task of ridding his small New Mexican town from a murderous 2 door black sedan that appears to be driving itself. And that's pretty much it. However, there are several interesting hints throughout that the car may be driven by the devil himself,(starting quite blatantly with an unnerving Anton La Vey quote at the start of the film) making this a truly one of kind experience, and despite the car itself being the main character you're likely to remember, Brolin is the star of the film. His performance as Sherriff Wade Parent(?!)plays out very much like a warm up for his career defining turn in 1979's Amytiville Horror. His personal vendetta against the evil sedan spirals into a crazy showdown in the dessert after the unexplained death of his girlfriend Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd). There are certain jumps and shocks in this film that simply have to be seen to be believed, and while there are a few rather talky moments, the sheer unpredictability of the script and the bizarre use of sped up car chases keep you gripped to the final jaw dropping credit sequence.

Evil sedans and horror aside, Silverstein's film also boasts some truly spectacular scope photography, courtesy of the man behind Young Frankenstein and other Mel Brooks features, Gerald Hirschfeld. Here, he makes incredible use of the films sparse location and provides an integral contribution to the overwhelming atmosphere. The opening sequence alone appears almost immediately legendary before the car has even made it's first appearance. The opening shot sends shivers up the spine with an almost amusing anticipation. Arriving at top speed through a menacing cloud of dessert dust and a red-tinted camera lenses (so we know when we are meant to be seeing this from the car's point of view)the car wastes no time at all in offing a young couple of cyclists in an opening that may very well be the films defining moment. The tone is set straight away, and whilst similarities to Duel are going to be obvious, this film moves quicker and is definitely stooped deeper in the traditionl stalk and slash horror field. Only here it's in non human form, making it all the more unsettling. At the same time this film has a justifiably low 12 certificate in the UK as it's easy to be seen as a harmless exercise in an almost 1950's comic book style. There's nothing at all offensive on display here whatsoever and could very well be shown before the watershed. Finally, but interestingly, it's also worth pointing out the similarities between Leonard Rosenman's sweeping score and Wendy Carlos's main theme to Kubricks adaption of Stephen Kings The Shining. The two pieces of music are almost identical. The Car predates The Shining by three years however, so, you heard it here first. While not quite up there with Christine (another King favourite) The Car is a good solid film. Of it's time in every way but also just a little suprising in it's originality. Happy viewing.

Poltergeist (Music Video Directed By Prano Bailey-Bond-2010)

Poltergeist hits you like a sinister slap in the face. So effortlessly energetic and vibrant a music video it takes a few views for the adrenalin to wear off and the film to actually sink in. The simple and effective story of one girl's attempts to escape herself on her walk home one night (only to be confronted by a rather personal evil at her every turn) is set to a memorably creepy yet fairly minimal piece of music composed by Ash Sargant and Robert Housden. A sort of horror Trip-Hop mash up of heavy bass and repetitive growls, and a tune that lingers in the mind long after the video has ended. The combination of erratic beats and claustrophobic imagery combine here to make the perfect urban nightmare, the gorgeous glow of street lamps smother the rural streets of London with all the colours of the night. Brilliantly unique in its boldness, Poltergeist squeezes so much into its four minutes running time (musically and visually)that there's hardly a pause for breath! As each character is introduced the tension heightens greatly and a different sprinkling of cheeky black humour is found at every corner. Director Prano Bailey-Bond also appears as not one, not two, but every character in the film! And playing out such a confident and varied display of performances you wonder how she finds time to sleep! Original, exciting and downright weird. Here's the video.

(Oh and keep a lookout for Prano's spider logo)

The Bronx Warriors Trilogy (Directed By Enzo G. Castellari - 1982-1983)

Welcome to guilty pleasure. Or rather, welcome to Enzo Castellari's low grade Warriors/Escape From New York inspired saga of a post apocalyptic New York wasteland inhabited by violent rival street gangs. Looking at first glance for all the world like yet another Italian cash in on a bigger and more successful American film, these three flicks are actually quite entertaining and enjoyable, and while the acting and dialogue is on par with Cannibal Ferox for idiotic and laughably quotable, you can see just why a certain Mr.Tarantino never shuts up about this trilogy or its lovable and cheery director. Let's not forget that this is the chap who directed the original Inglorious Bastards back in 1978. He comes across as a thoroughly likeable guy on the DVD extras and remains passionate and proud of his films to this day, as he runs us through the film's development and legacy.
Recently replacing Vipco's terrible VHS copies are Shameless Screen Entertainment, who for starters aren't advertising these films as anything other than the fun trash they are (Vipco claimed they belonged in their infamously bad "Vaults Of Horror" series, which couldn't be less accurate) and have gone and put out a superb looking trilogy box set in a wonderfully skull embossed metal tin. The care and attention to detail these guys are putting into their DVD releases is a great way of introducing bizarre films such as these to an audience who would otherwise not know they existed. And as daft as this trilogy is (its pacing is at times uneven and makes no sense), it's also pretty hard to dislike, especially if you're a fan of The Warriors, Mad Max or just post apocalypse films in general.
There's a tradition with most Science Fiction films of this type, and sometimes with the more respectable ones, of slapping a date on the film, and in this case it's 1990. Made during the golden period of Italian exploitation films and sharing more than just a passing resemblance to Lucio Fulci's films of the early 80s, Castellari also shared producer, screen writer and apparently location. There are several scenes set on the same Bronx harbour as the famous opening sequence to Fulci's Zombie, and the twin towers crop up ominously in several shots.
The story itself revolves around Anne (Stefania Girolami) 17-year-old heiress to The Manhattan Corporation. Feeling guilty over having to inherit a morally questionable company on her 18th birthday, she flees into the lawless wasteland of New York and hides out with the street gang The Riders, and their charismatic leader Trash (Mark Gregory, who for some reason walks more like a horse than a man). Throw into the mix a Clockwork Orange-esque rival gang in clown paint, an insane ninja pony tailed George Eastman(of Absurd and Rabid Dogs fame) and a low key appearance from Vic Morrow as the infiltrating ex cop and you have yourself an entertaining night in of some sort of rock n roll urban hell. Though not anywhere as near as violent or brutal as you would think from the poster art or the time they were conceived, all three films pack quite a punch, and surprisingly, both sequels are fairly strong for this sort of thing.

The New Barbarians(is it actually part 2 or part 3? Different sources say different things) was shot the same year as the first film and is intentionally silly in comparison. Taking place in 2019 where laser guns and cyber punks roam the desert wastelands chopping each other up. And not much else. Escape From The Bronx is similar in tone to the first installment but flies along at a crazy speed as Trash returns alone to stop the Bronx being torn down and turned into a high tech city of the future. Apparently director Castellari thought Mark Gregory had put on too much weight so asked him to leave his jacket on throughout filming. Though slightly more cynical and downbeat in tone, Escape From The Bronx is a great companion piece to the first film and stays truer to its origins than the more lightweight and sci-fi tinged New Barbarians, but sadly the glowing plastic skulls that adorn the gangs' motorbikes from the first film don't make a return.
All in all good trashy fun that, whilst not begging for THAT many repeated viewings, is a worthwhile addition to any good exploitation collection. Especially in this incarnation as it just looks great and feels all the more special for its almost unnecessarily deluxe treatment. Another classy job from Shameless Films.

The Black Cat (Directed by Lucio Fulci-1981)

Having been a fan of Fulcis for years its rather refreshing to find yet another brilliant film to add to the collection. I don't think this film will appeal to fans of New York Ripper so much, but more to fans of The Beyond and House By The Cemetery (ie:the classics)as it relies heavily on atmosphere and dialogue (surprisingly good for a fulci film). Plus, as usual the cinematography is incredible, especially in the opening rooftop scene and the cats eye view as he stalks the streets at night, which are some of the best scenes in any Fulci film. David Warbeck (The Beyond)and Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) also make this surprisingly interesting viewing. If your a fan of these films, I recommend this one. It's good to have finally discovered it.

Last House On The Left Remake (Directed By Dennis Lliadis-2009)

The remake of Hills Have Eyes was great and in some ways improved on the original. This, however is just sleep inducing and incredibly boring. None of the actors, besides Sara Paxton (Mary) are remotely interesting or memorable and it seems at times like none of them, particular the Krug character, even bothered to watch the original. That, plus the film runs at least half an hour too long! I think the scenes in the woods are convincingly done and some of the cinematography is impressive but seeing as Wes and Sean were both involved with the production, I was hoping for something a lot less slick and middle of the road. This film simply made me want to view the original again instead and remind myself how groundbreaking and powerful it still is. Oh, and the ending was just ridiculous.

The Last Exorcism (Directed by Daniel Stamm-2010)

I saw this film at frightfest and I have never witnessed such a hilariously disappointed audience in my life. Despite a promising start nothing could prepare you for the massive let down of this film. People even seemed uncomfortable clapping when the film had finished. The fairly competent documentary fly on the wall style directing was simply let down by terribly bad and misleading advertising. I'm sure the problem with this film was once again Eli Roths involvement as the end was hysterically cliched and out of place. Avoid.

The Blood Spattered Bride (Directed By Vicente Aranda - 1972)

Weird, perverse, backwards and bloody as hell, Vicente Aranda's sleazy vampire tale The Blood Spattered Bride may not be for all taste but it's a rather enticing Euro horror fest that is probably best seen more than once in order to get to grips with just what is really happening on screen.
Based on the vampire novel "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan la Fanu, our story kicks off with newly wed Susan (Maribel Martin)and her husband (Simon Andreu)being stalked outside their honeymoon hotel by a mysterious veiled woman (the truly creepy Alexandra Bastedo). Upon being left alone in their room for a few moments, Susan has a violent fantasy in which she is raped by a strange unidentified man and insists they leave immediately. The story of Carmilla unfolds further when they move into the childhood home of her husband.
A lot of the film from this point is made up of sinister set pieces and very bizarre scenes, though highlights of course being the discovery of Carmilla on the beach and the incredibly erotic murders that are carried out by the two female leads. (Susan is soon falling under Carmilla's spell and joins her in a blood drinking, lesbian vampire rampage and lets the terror level ride high). Susans husband, however, isn't so easy to snuff out and the film climaxes in him awakening them from their coffined slumbers and killing the pair of them. Rumors abound that the end killing is far more graphic and bloody than Anchor Bays DVD shows but I think these are just rumors as it ends in such a bizarre fashion I don't think even the BBFC could edit something so abruptly. As good as it looks, Blood Spattered Bride is no classic. It doesn't work on all levels and the camerawork can at times feel claustrophobic. However, it feels effortlessly put together and at times rather beautifully dreamlike. A suitably eerie organ score by Antonio Pérez Olea's subtly compliments the film and leaves it a recommended atmospheric romp for fans of old school horror and sleaze, though perhaps too arty and grim in tone for everyone.

The Blood On Satan's Claw (Directed By Piers Haggard-1971)

A film deserving of its cult status and following, Blood On Satan's Claw is an incredibly well crafted British horror tale that is vastly superior to other Tigon Produced horrors of the 70's and ranks highly as one of the creepiest on screen depictions of witchcraft and devil worship ever made. Ignoring the sensationalist title which doesn't do the film itself justice, this is one good old frightfest that really doesn't fail to deliver the goods.
Set in rural 17th century England, the remains of a decomposing inhuman corpse are found by the local farmer Ralph (our heroic male lead played with a compelling desperation by Barry Andrew's)who, upon informing the local judge (Patrick Wymark, appearing drunk throughout the film) of his findings, realises the remains have disappeared and his story is cast off as supernatural nonsense. However, members of the village slowly begin to fall under a strange spell that turns the local school children into a clan of Satan worshiping upstarts. Blood On Satan's Claw has so many great performances it's hard to mention them all, but obviously the most memorable performance is that of Lindas Hayden, who plays Angel Blake, the vicious and manipulative ringleader in the devils playground. At 17, and braving a full frontal seduction of her school teacher and local preist, this must be a career highlight for her as she helped create not only an iconic female character by odorning most of the films gorgeous publicity artwork but one of the greatest demonic children in horror history. Dressed in her crown of thorns and o.t.t face paint, she leads the villages children on a rampage of rape, murder and sacrificial evil doings all in the name of Satan himself. Who, I must point out makes a particularly frightening appearance during the films showdown when Wymark interrupts the children's ceremony.




Awash with an unnerving sense of dread, Blood On Satan's Claw also boasts one of the more memorable and addictive soundtracks of it's time. Mark Wilkinsons rhapsodic theme really does get under your skin and lingers in the subconscious long after viewing, as all good film scores should. The Repetitive use of certain musical phrases contributes greatly to the films overall presence, and as with Dario Argento's best known films, it's hard to imagine the picture, as powerful as it is, working quite so well without it.
Founded by Tony Tenser in 1966, Tigon was a British Horror film production company that found popularity after the initial success of Hammer and the growing demand for scares and chills on the big screen. Alongside the fabulous Amicus films, Tigon never quite equalled the prolific output of Hammer or left such a vast and dizzying legacy but did, however, strike gold with the Vincent Price Cromwell(ian) gorefest Witchfinder General. Causing uproar with the censors in 1968, director Michael Reeves brave and daring portrail of witch hunting in 16th century England is nowadays accepted as a gratuitous yet almost endearingly camp slice of horror. Flawed yet deserving of its place in the pantheons of nastiness.

Blood On Satan's Claw has a similar demonic atmosphere but chooses to skip the romantic subplot and instead goes straight for the throat with its tales of forbidden folklore, bloodlust and the taboo breaking use of children as the evil doers.