Last Seen 70s/80s Movie

[FryeDwight]

POSSESSION (1981). Art film by Andrzel Zulawski is lovely to look at, but an extremely weird story that will have You scratching Your head trying to figure it out. Early Sam Neill as a spy trying to work out an extremely toxic relationship with his wife, the lovely Isabelle Adjani, all sorts of odd goings on and involving a plot of what I can guess to be doppelgängers. Definitely not for all tastes. **

[classic_horror_fan]

"Mountain Of The Cannibal God" is an Italian giallo jungle and cannibal themed horror film from the 1970s, directed by Sergio Martino. It is about a lady an her brother searching for her missing husband who was last seen on a search expedition for highly valuable natural products deep in the jungles of New Guinea! The government believes he got killed in the depths of the jungles, where there is a lot of dangerous and deadly wild life and cannibals out there. The lady and her brother say they do not want to give up on the search unless they can find out for sure that the missing husband is actually dead. They meet an American guide who currently resides out that way and is an expert on the jungle and wildlife, and knows that certain jungle real well. He also has a good amount of natives who know and life him. They agree to guide them on the expedition, searching for the missing husband, but encounter many surprise attacks from crocodiles, long venomous snakes, cannibals, and the like. They even lose the natives to those attacks pretty fast, but the lady and her brother insist on continuing. The lady also gets caught by a cannibal who tries to kill her, but then gets saved by another American guide who happens to be on another expedition out that way. He also agrees to help guide on that search because he is also very familiar with that jungle and wildlife, along with how dangerous and deadly it can be out that way. This movie has a lot of action and adventure to it with plenty of good stunt work and staged combat. It also has a lot of good drama and dialogue, and well developed characters. It even had a good well developed plot and story line. There is also a lot of artsy and amazing looking nature and wildlife shots throughout the whole film. Even the kill scenes with a lot of blood and gore are still done in good artsy and creative ways. There are also plenty of good twists and turns in the story. Out of the cannibal and jungle themed horror films, this is definitely one of the better ones out there.

[classic_horror_fan]

"The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail" is an Italian giallo horror film from the 1970s, directed by Sergio Martino. It is about a wealthy man's widow inheriting a million dollars after he dies in a plane explosion, only to have stalkers threatening her, saying they are entitled to large amounts of that inheritance. They even go to extents of hiring lawyers and even hitmen to break into hotel rooms she is staying at in attempting to kill her and/or steal the money. Even investigators working on the case have to deal with people breaking into hotel rooms they are staying at in attempts to kill them as well. There is also a lone masked killer who breaks into places to kill a few of the ladies involved in the case. There are a lot of twists and turns in making it look like the killer is one person, only to have that person get it next, or having that person talking to another person off camera, not showing who the other person involved is. There is a lot of great action and suspense in this film, along with a lot of great drama, dialogue, and well developed characters. This film also has one of the bigger shockers on who the killer actually is, of all films that have surprise endings on who the killers actually are. Those into murder mysteries and the Italian giallo horror era should not be disappointed with this one.

[FryeDwight]

THE HONEYMOON KILERS (1970). Sleeper film based on the "Lonely Hearts" killings of the 1940's, although some of the facts were tweaked Shirley Stoler is great as Martha, the unhappy and overweight (in the articles based on the case, it seemed that Martha's weight was always listed) nurse looking for some companionship. She answers an ad and gets involved with a Giglio/Con Man (Ray)who courts lonely women and absconds with their money. Martha joins the act as Ray's sister, but her extreme jealousy and nasty temper tend to make things complicated. ***

[Poejsic]

The Strangler of the Swamp (1946) I have never even heard of this one before. It was run on "Lord Blood Rahs Nerve Wracking Theater" (the host is pretty knowledgeable about films) A number of swamp land men have died by strangulation and the inhabitants believe that an innocent man they hanged is seeking revenge on all of the male descendants of those responsible for his death. Maria, granddaughter of the guilty ferryman, decides to operate the ferry service. Chris Sanders, a son of one of the men who did the hanging, and Maria fall in love. I found it to be enjoyable. However, most of the scenes take place in the titular swamp, which seemed rather claustrophobic for the actors.

[FryeDwight]

TWINS (1988 ) Comedy that has aged quite well with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger having great chemistry together and Kelly Preston at her most appealing. Look for a young Heather Graham. ***1/2

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

Messiah of Evil, 1974. 7/10

Directors: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz

[DeadbeatAtDawn]

The Dead Are Alive, 1972. 6/10

Director: Armando Crispino

[Tommy Jarvis]

Clownhouse 1989 ★★★

Clownhouse is an enjoyable slasher about three mental patients disguising as clowns.

The kills are mostly offscreen, but the creepy atmos and the score make up for that. And the clowns do look pretty scary. Especially the leader.

Good stuff. Worth a check.

Fun fact: The douchy brother Randy saw Sam Rockwell (he of Vice-fame) in one his very first roles.

Less fun fact: The bigger horror took place behind the scenes. No need to go into details, but those who want to know more can suffice by googling the director.

The Devil’s Men 1976 ★★★

The devil's man is one of those fun little gems that pop up every now and then when browsing Netflix. Proving that finding your own way through the algorythm is better than believing the birdbox.

It stars Donald Pleasance as a priest with both gravitas and, at times, a bit of humor. At least when confronted with reckless drivers. He investigates a satanic cult lead by Baron Corofax (played by Peter Cushing). Okay, Corofax is a pretty British sounding name for someone claiming to be from the Carpathians, and why the satanists look like fashionable klansmen is beyond me. But what the hey.

Pleasance teams up with Milo, portrayed by Kostas Karagiorgis. Milo is a New York detective in the stereotypical sense of the word: brash and loud. Is that the worst stereotype in the movie? No.

Also, what's up with that Father Ted-hairdo he's sporting?

Overall, this is a nice flick. The plot is your generic Satan-sacrifice bladibla, with holy water saving the day. Even though it looks more like nitroglycerine. But okay, sure. Fine. Whatever.

The acting is solid and the soundtrack composer got free reign to indulge in all his seventies synth related quirks. Resulting in an odd yet somehow fascinating score and a theme song worthy of cult status.

A nice addition for fans of Pleasance and Cushing.

[Tommy Jarvis]

The Lost Boys 1987 ★★★½

For a vampire movie, this one has surprisingly little bitey action.

It was however well paced and entertaining and Kiefer Sutherland finds the right balance between cheeky and menacing. And Corey Feldman makes for a good comic relief.

Also nice to see Alex Winter pop up.

Misery 1990 ★★★★

I can't get the review out of the cock-a-doodie keyboard!

Anyway...

Misery falls into that category of movies that somehow managed to elude me for a long time. Somehow, the timing never seems right or something else gets in the way. Some of you will know what I mean.

However, I finally got around to relaxing and watching and it delivered on all levels. The master Stephen King delivers a compelling story about a phenomenon all successfull artists will know all too well: the obsessive fan who does not take too kindly to them choosing a different direction. And who go a little overboard in their response to that.

Like a lot of the better King-stories, this one relies mostly on characters. Thus giving the actors an opportunity to shine.

Especially Kathy Bates. Boy, did she deserve that Oscar. She really made Annie Wilkes believable as that insecure psychopath with every innocent word capable of making her snap. Which is especially scary with that sugarcoat of friendliness and homeyness on top. You can tell that she loves baking cookies and be generous and giving. And then she turns on a dime and kills you.

James Caan... I always remember that story that Rob Reiner told on 100 scariest movie moments. I can just imagine Caan being like: Oh no... I'm in bed? A-gain? Really? Wonder if that was frustrating for him. Nonetheless, he delivers a great performance here. Emoting very well the fear and the insecurity that Paul feels. Especially in that one pivotal scene that pretty much everyone knows and talks about. You know what's coming and still... oh... my... goodness.

And while ninety percent of the movie relies on Caan and Bates, it would be remiss of me not to give a nod to the performances by Richard Farnsworth and Frances Sternhagen. They share good chemistry, even though Sternhagen does not get a lot of screentime. Farnsworth shines as the small town sheriff who slowly but surely works out what's going on.

The only point of criticism might concern the final jumpscare. From a superficial point of view, it might feel unnecessary and could easily be cut. And I am more than willing to believe that this is one clear example of “the book did it better”. But it does fit the point King wanted to get across. A part of me even tends to think this was one of the first moments he had in mind while writing this novel and somehow worked up to it. But that's just the fan boy spitballing and speculating.

Four well deserved stars.

Amsterdamned 1988 ★★★★

I got the idea for this rewatch from a Letterboxd-member who claimed this to be “the most Italian non-Italian giallo I’ve ever seen”.

And you know what? He could be on to something. Some elements come back that remind me of giallos I have seen.

- The score: very seventies and the bit just before the car chase definetily has some Goblin vibes in there.
- The colors: in certain shots, they definetily give off that sensation
- The cast: With his five o'clock shadow and his posture, Erik Visser may pass for a southern macho. And Martin does look like a giallo killer. In that aspect, I liked how they kept him ambiguous until the end.
- The imagery: There were more, but the ones I have written down include the mortician holding the blade, the shot of the bookcase with Laura in front of the cd-player, Martin playing the piano or the killer preparing for another honest day's work. Part of me wants to include Willy in front of the candle, but now that I think of it... giallos never really had many kids in them, did they?

Sure, some of the story is silly and goofy, but there is still plenty to enjoy.

The kills were either suitably elaborate (the house boat) or brutal (the knife between the legs or the shot of the first victim sliding over the boat).

The banter between Eric and his daughter is funny – the shot with the cat food never misses to get a chuckle out of me. Or the way Anneke berates for forgetting the ha-gel-slag.

Credit where credit is due: the opening shots of the killer swimming through the canal and the final confrontation right before the big reveal do have a dose of creepiness. I also love the shot with the Chinese kitchen at the start. You don't have to understand their language to hear the chef going “where's the damn knife?” and the other guy “huh?”. “Where's the fucking knife?!” “How the hell should I know?” *bicker bicker*

And let's not forget the cheesy cop movie jokes and last but not least, a speedbot chase scene through the bloody Amsterdam canals. With a speeboat jumping over a bridge! How cool is that?!

This movie has a special place in my heart and there is no way it will ever gets less than four stars.

Final note: beschuitlul might just be one of the best insults ever.

A Bay of Blood 1971 ★★★★

The opening credits immediately have the snarks covered. Paola Rubens? Is there something to Pee Wee Herman that we do not yet know? Some Angela Baker-ish backstory? Moving on.

The plot sometimes feels a tad messy and complicated, but that's not the point of these movies. It's all about style and atmos. And kills, obviously. And they are fittingly brutal. Especially that decapitation. Holy fucking shit, that's awesome. Or the ending? Wow. Did NOT see that coming.

But that meatcleaver kill? Ugh. Such a rip off of Friday the 13th part 4. You will not catch Steve Miner with this kind of silliness. Boy I'll tell you.

I also liked how they threw shade on pretty much everyone. Like the Burt Reynolds-looking Simon, with the creepy laugh. And of course in true giallo style, the movie is full of beautiful shots and gorgeous women.

Great stuff.