I am divided on this movie. It has a cool premise: a group of kids decides to charter a guide to take them to the restricted site of Chernobyl, Ukraine, where a nuclear reactor plant experienced a meltdown and rendered the surrounding countryside exposed to high levels of radiation. Definitely a place that the local government has made unavailable to public access because of health concerns. Well, our group gets through the blockaded area and explores the abandoned ruins of the town left behind. The guide notices that there is evidence of activity in the supposedly dead place and urges [More]
Miners uncover a piece of preserved dinosaur tail that ends up thawing in a scientific research facility. That ends up being an awful turn of events. The small bit of flesh soon grows and regenerates a complete dinosaur! The resilient reptile. Very soon, a full-fledged rampaging beast is on the loose and begins laying waste to the Denmark countryside where the tale takes place. There are bits of this fantasy film that I find actually enjoyable. There is a travelogue of sorts that appears near the middle of the film that highlights some of the festive night spots and activities [More]
Schlock director Al Adamson resurrected some classic Universal monsters for this low grade monster epic. Some tall cat named Zandor Vorkov plays Dracula with his voice heavily processed with reverb. Interesting effect but probably not necessary. Dracula pays a visit to Dr. Durea who runs a carnival monster exhibit upstairs but has a fully equipped laboratory in the basement to carry out his experiments. In fact, Durea is a direct descendant of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein. And we all know that the Franken-family has that overreaching desire to resurrect the dead coursing through their veins! Dracula wants Durea to perfect [More]
This is another one of those flicks I watched in my youth, 10,000 years ago, that frightened me. Watching it now, I am struck by the loveliness of some of the black and white film cinematography but bored by the dull goings on and the lumbering, costumed monster. I now remember what creeped me out all those years ago and it has to do with the beast’s predilection to behead his victims. Never pleasant in any era. So, we have a giant sea monster that walks on two legs and apparently lives in a cave near a lighthouse. The lighthouse [More]
I just viewed this science fiction film from the 1950’s a few days ago. I admit that I was mostly entertained by this movie which eluded viewing until just recently but coincided with some articles I saw that illustrated the decline and fall of the Salton Sea recreational area located in the southern most part of the state of California, USA. Seems that this area was once a thriving vacation and resort spot before things got a little disgusting with the receding of this (basically) unnatural lake. The lake resulted as a collection of runoff of high water from the [More]
I have always enjoyed Hammer Films’ “Horror Of Dracula” starring Peter Cushing as Dr. Van Helsing, vampire authority, and Christopher Lee as the undead blood sucker, Dracula. I thought the movie was a very well done horror thriller. Lee is menacing and frightening as a very strong but cold parasitic beast bent on his own survival. Cushing is magnificent as the determined and brilliant expert on folklore and the Supernatural bent on ending the vampire’s reign of terror. With the current pandemic raging on and being newly unemployed, I found time to finally finish Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula”. Now, comparing [More]
African prince is “converted” to blood thirsty, undead vampire by Dracula. The Prince becomes a vampire and progresses through the centuries turning others in to vampires in his passing. Very entertaining vampire flick from the 1970’s that follows Blacula’s modern day wake of death and destruction as he feeds his hunger for blood. Naturally, a lot of the film takes place at night which lends a creepy air and some of the surprise vampire attacks are startling. Some of the action is clumsy and dumb but William Marshall as Blacula lends a sinister, menacing presence. Fantasy movie veteran Elisha [More]
A mildly amusing Saturday afternoon diversion, “Graveyard Shift” was based on a Stephen King short story. Here it is fleshed out into movie length and a large part of that filling is loaded with oozing, despicable caricatures. A bunch of people you could care less about are tasked with cleaning up the lower level area of a mill located somewhere on the east coast. Maybe the extraction of all the crap which has accumulated down there over the years will alleviate some of the rat problem that infests the place. What is not known is that the mother of all [More]
A real creepy premise in this flick: giant, mutated ants are on the loose and stalking victims in isolated areas of the God forsaken desert! I bring you this cinematic, sci-fi gem because of a recent summer time invasion of the small variety of ants in our house in pursuit of the cat’s food. These little beasts are annoying enough in their present miniature state as they scamper in all directions as you try to eradicate their presence inside your home. In addition to the trouble of getting them picked up and removed, you get the sinister feeling that the [More]
1970’s TV movies offered up a plethora of weird subject matter the net result being that it left deep psychological wounds on young, impressionable viewers which I am sure, myself included, they carry with them to this day. I remember the exhilaration of braving some of this creepy TV material and then spending sleepless nights terrified by the experience. This unpleasant little story included these hideous, shriveled up, doll sized demons you see here. You see, there is a lady, actress Kim Darby, who spends quite a lot of time in a dark house filled with these beasts. They only want [More]
With a lot of attention being placed on the upcoming theatrical release of “Jurassic World”, it might interest you to take a look at this lovely little lost world ditty. A plan crashes on an isolated island that is rife with primordial life forms. But the really beautiful beastie present is the “King” of this place. Look familiar? A man in a terrible ape suit runs wild at times through this thing. This movie is a great diversion. Seek it out and have a few cheap thrills!
I have never really liked this movie. On recent viewing, I can see why. The entire production is revolting. It starts with the fact that this is a big budgeted movie based on a best selling book, “Relic”. Don’t expect to watch this and think it reliably follows the novel. There have been many editorial liberties taken. (So what else is new, you ask?) This movie is awash in guts and gore being spewed in all directions. There are generous helpings of entrail ripping, blood splatterings and heads being severed. Ugh. I don’t think I found one likeable character in the entire story. Maybe [More]
I stumbled upon this movie late at night and was instantly appalled! What a horrific, nightmarish spectacle it all is. A unit of Russian soldiers during World War II are unfortunate enough to wander into the Hell of a den of nearly unstoppable human/robot hybrids. The soldiers’ mission is to apprehend a latter day descendant of the evil Dr. Frankenstein himself and put a stop to his hideous killer creations. They should have gone AWOL and fled the mission. The creatures featured in this lovely gore fest are pieced together from dead bodies and curious mechanical parts the good doctor [More]
An enjoyable time filler fantasy picture that follows a team that captures a live abominable snowman or yeti. Forrest Tucker plays a sham naturalist who talks of sharing the capture of a yeti to the world as a scientific wonder. As the movie progresses, we find out that he is in fact a P.T. Barnum in the making who wants to parade the beast around the world at fair and make a killing at the box office. Peter Cushing is a more traditional scientist who comes to detest the intentions of Tucker. Very atmospheric music and sets when the team [More]