ReganH14 Reviews

Inseminoid (1981)

A decent cash-in of Alien

[7/10 · 19 January 2021]

Whilst Inseminoid is by no means a great film I'm surprised that its rating is as low as 3.9 which is very low even for an Alien knock off. Hell even the Italian film Contamination has a higher score (5.3) despite it being mostly a slog to sit through.

The plot is simple with a member of an archaeological team getting impregnated by an alien creature and slowly turning into a cannibalistic murderer. Overall characterization is kept to a bare minimum. The acting is overall not great with only Judy Greeson and Stephanie Beacham making much of an impression whilst the two token American's (Robin Clark and Jennifer Ashley) are the major weaknesses whilst everyone else is just fine. Characters make terrible decisions that seem to be just there to get them onto the body count and unfortunately the alien in question only appears in one scene before disappearing (the novelization of the film seems to be based of an earlier script where the alien was more of a threat that could have proved to be more entertaining).

For all its faults though Inseminoid is still a fun movie particularly when it gets to the gore which is well done and the soundtrack whilst not hugely memorable does fit the mood. And Geeson fully commits to her role as she slowly turns into a pregnant murderer. Her screams as she goes into a labor and chilling (and seem to have ended up in a rather famous horror game franchise).

Overall Inseminoid isn't one of the best alien knock off's but there is enough gore and weirdness that I do think it deserves a higher rating.

Scanners (1981)

One of my favorite Cronenberg films

[8/10 · 4 December 2020]

This movie ranks number 3 on my favorite Cronenberg movies after The Fly and Videodrome. Whilst Scanners may not feel quite as original or creative as some of his other works it is still very much a product of the Canadian master of horror even if this movie leans more towards science fiction.

Scanners is about a group of humans that have emerged after an experimental drug given to pregnant women was found to cause unusual side affects in the children. These being titular Scanners who posses extreme telepathic abilities. One such Scanner, Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is a drifter who doesn't know that he is a Scanner but only that his entire life has been filled with other people's voices. After accidentally causing a women to have a seizure Vale is caught by men from the security organization ConSec who have become interested in Scanners. Taken to Dr Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan) he is given a drug that calms the voices in his head. Ruth then recruits Cameron to infiltrate an underground group of Scanners lead by Darly Revok (Michael Ironside).

Overall it could be easy to compare these film to DePalma's earlier The Fury which also dealt with psychics and rogue organizations but whilst DePalma film is overall and uneven but entertaining fare Cronenberg made a movie that was overall a deeper and more satisfying film.

The acting in the movie is quite good. Stephen Lack who plays the lead is often criticized for his emotionless portrayal of the character but to me that fits the movie and his character is meant to not have much personality, in all honesty it would seem less fitting if Cronenberg cast a more natural charismatic actor in what is quite a detached role. Patrick McGoohan does well as the seemingly good doctor who helps the character better understand himself but who also may have ulterior motives. Jennifer O'Neill is okay but doesn't get much to do after her introduction whilst Laurence Dane is good as the Brando Keller ConSec's new security manager who much like Ruth seems to have more sinister motives. But the real stand out is Ironside as the villain Darly Revok who delivers the classic menace that Ironside would replicate in other movies like Total Recall.

The effects are also excellent with the movie pushing a more visceral side to characters with psychic powers further that any movie had previously. The head explosion is iconic but its just the first in a line of other well done sequences. Howard Shore delivers an excellent soundtrack that can get stuck in someones head and have it being almost impossible to get rid of.

Overall Scanners is a strong movie with an intriguing story, a good cast, excellent effects and a strong score which makes it one of my personal favorite Croneneberg films.

The Fury (1978)

Uneven but underrated DePalma film

[7/10 · 4 December 2020]

The Fury has often been cast in the shadow of DePalma's previous movie Carrie released two years prior which also dealt with characters with psychic powers. Whilst Carrie was more of a horror film with elements of science fiction, The Fury appears to be a mixture of everything. Ranging from Sci-fi to thriller to horror and even comedy. This strange mixture proves to be both entertaining but also the major weakness of The Fury.

The movie was adapted from the novel by John Farris and the major problem appears that the movie is trying to cram a story that would work better as a mini series. There are so many different genres, elements and characters thrown in that even at two hours the film doesn't feel fully complete. There are some scenes (such as the part where Kirk Douglas's character raids a couple's apartment) that feel unnecessary and seems to take away from the major plot elements. Doesn't help that for the majority of the film the narrative is juggling both Kirk Douglas being chased around by a mysterious organization and Amy Irving's character realizing that she has psychic powers with the only thing connecting these two plot lines is Kirk Douglas's kidnapped son who Irving's character has a psychic connection with.

Despite its narrative shortcomings the movie is still highly entertaining and is one of DePalma's best looking movies. Its clear that he had a much large budget to work with and he is clearly going to town with it.

The performances are also well done with Kirk Douglas and Amy Irving doing well with there respective characters whilst John Cassevetes is great as the sinister bad guy who has abducted Kirk Douglas's son and is also interested in Irving's psychic abilities. Charles Dunning, Carrie Snodgress and Fiona Lewis contribute strong supporting roles. The only downside being Andrew Stevens who plays the abducted son who feels quite wooden and is overall not as sympathetic as he should be.

John Williams contributes a fine score for this film which seems to take some elements from Star Wars but is easily one of his most underrated scores.

Overall The Fury is quite uneven in terms of its story suffering from cramming a very in depth novel into a two hour popcorn movie but is not less still and entertaining movie with some impressive visuals a mostly solid cast and memorable soundtrack. And the ending is very explosive.

Beyond the Door (1974)

Rosemary's Exorcist

[7/10 · 8 October 2020]

Whilst the Exorcist is certainly a classic movie I would be lying if I didn't say that I've seen Beyond the Door many more times.

The story follows Jessica Barrett (Juliet Mills) lives in San Francisco with her husband Robert (Gabriele Lavia) and two children some ten years after running away from satanic ritual involving her former boyfriend Dimitri (Richard Johnson). Her normal life is soon shattered when she finds herself mysteriously pregnant with a third child. Soon Jessica's behavior starts to change and before long she is levitating, vomiting bile and twisting her head around much to the horror of her family. Soon Robert is confronted by Dimitri who says he is the only one who can help Jessica. But Dimitri's plans maybe less noble than they seem.

Beyond the Door is a fun mashup of both Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist. Whilst its off the walls story plus some bad dubbing (especially from the two children) prevent the film from being in the same league as the movies its referencing its still a lot of fun for fans of Italian horror.

Juliet Mills (probably the most surprising actress to turn up in this sort of film) does a great job of portraying Jessica. She's both sympathetic as the expected mother as well as genuinely creepy when playing the possessed women and all the carnage that comes from it. Richard Johnson (who would later star in Zombi 2 as well as another Exorcist rip-off, The Night Child) also brings a certain class as the mysterious and morally ambiguous Dimitri.

The affects are pulled off quite well in spite of the movies low budget and even against the much higher budget The Exorcist. I would even argue the head turning scene in these film is more convincing and creepier than the one from the Exorcist. Mainly as the puppet has more life put into it that the rather still mannequin used in the Exorcist. It also helps that the sequence is done in near silence apart from the demonic groans coming from Mills in comparison to the Exorcist where it happens at the end of an already shocking scene. Other great scenes include the point where the two kids bedroom starts to shake with the dolls coming to life is also well staged and acted out. Overall despite some of the effects being derivative of the Exorcist they still manage to make the movie creepy.

Overall apart from a few nods here and there the movie does come off as a blatant copy of the Exorcist (though that didn't stop Warner bros from suing) and in comparison to the many bland possession movies of today its at least nice to see a less traditional take on the genre. It is also a much more satisfying film than the Exorcist 2.

Cannibals in the Streets (1980)

Cannibalism goes Viral

[7/10 · 16 April 2019]

Well not in that sense but this time cannibalism is now a contagious disease that is brought back by three Vietnam vets that soon gets out and spreads through the city of Atlanta. Released during 1980 when the Italian industry was filled with either zombie or cannibal films this movie stands out from the crowed in that it treats cannibalism as a kind of zombie infection that is spread through a bite. The premise though silly in execution is at least more original that of any other cannibal film released around this time. Another thing that stands out about this film is the decent acting brought on by the cast. With John Saxon taking on the lead role, he does a great job playing a man desperately trying to keep himself from falling into his flesh eating hunger that has already consumed his fellow vets. Its just a shame that he practically disowns the film. Joining him is two other vets played, by Giovanni Lombardo Radice who does well in playing a crazed flesh eater and is probably the most memorable of the cannibals for his gory demise, whilst Tony King is fun as he shouts, screams and swears his way through 95% of his scenes. Along for the ride is an infected nurse played by May Heatherly who is also memorable for how she dispatches and unfortunate doctor. On the human side of the coin with have Wallace Watkins as a police officer who prefers to make racist remarks every five lines or so though he is fun in his role. The only character who isn't of much interest is John Saxon's wife played by Elizabeth Turner who doesn't do much except look confused or worried through most of the film till the ending. The music is a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes it is well done with a bit of similarity to Goblin which I enjoyed however at times the music seems to go down a 70s porn film route especially during the opening. Though not as gruesome as Cannibal Holocaust or Ferox, Cannibal Apocalypse still delivers several gory scenes that will usually keep gore fans happy. Despite the mixed music and Turner's bland performance Cannibal Apocalypse is a fun movie to watch. At times it takes itself a little too seriously. But with some good performances, gruesome scenes and fun action and shootouts this movie still works as a fun Italian exploitation film.

The Howling (1981)

A really great werewolf movie

[8/10 · 14 January 2019]

Whilst American Werewolf in London is usually considered the best werewolf movie I do prefer The Howling only because I find myself being able to go back and watch more times. Still AAOL is still great just I like this one more.

The movie tells the story of a new reporter Karen White who goes to a retreat after an attack by a serial killer who she was meeting as part of a sting operation. Once there she begins to hear howling in the night for which her husband tries to calm her. While back in LA two of Karen's friends begin to look into werewolves when they find drawings of them in the dead serial killers home. But only he isn't really dead.

This was Joe Dante's third feature film as a director and this is where I think he really hit his stride with his work. The movie is a horror film but also mixes in some comedy without going over the top as well as references to old werewolf films. The movie was adapted from a book but only loosely though depending on who has read the book that may have been a good thing.

One of the strengths of the movie are the performances. Dee Wallace plays the lead role well as fragile women trying to recover after a traumatic event. Christopher Stone does good as Karen's husband and both Dennis Dugan and Dante regular Belinda Balaski play there parts well as Karen's friends who being to look into the retreat that Karen is staying at. Other mentions also go out to Elisabeth Brooks and Robert Picardo who play Marsha and Eddie Quist probably the best actors who play the werewolves.

Another strength of the film is the practical effects work done by Rob Bottin. The werewolf transformation is really great and while people tend to compare this to AAWIL I tend to not purely books the movie had much less money and time and with what they had it is still brilliant and holds up well unlike the CGI crap of today. Another positive is the score by Pino Donaggio which really helps the wood of the film and is one of my favorite soundtracks.

Overall The Howling is a great if not underrated werewolf flick that I think spends too much time under the shadow of AAWIL which deserves more praise.

Fright Night (1985)

My favourite Vampire film

[9/10 · 14 January 2019]

Fright night is one of those movies that just enforces my opinion that older horror movies are better than new so called horror (hell I'm 15 and I don't think that most horror movies are cheap jump scares or lame remakes of classics).

Charley Brewster is convinced that his next door neighbor Jerry Dandrige is a vampire and after getting nowhere with the cops he decides to turn to horror host Peter Vincent to try and help him kill his vampire neighbor.

The movie has got quite a good story with the first half being mostly Charley trying to convince the people around him of Jerry's real nature and then the second half is Charley and Peter teaming up to kill him. Overall the movie also has got more interest than the common slasher film that were still coming out at around this time and makes you really care about the characters.

The performances are also great with William Ragsdale doing well as the main lead though I do find his first decisions after realizing Jerry is a vampire to be a bit unrealistic. I mean he expects everyone to believe that his new neighbor is some mythical killer and then gets upset when no one believes him. Roddy McDowall is great as the struggling actor Peter Vincent who has to fight a vampire for real. I found him to be my favorite character in the film. Chris Sarandon turns in a great performance as Jerry, he's able to act both charming and likeable as well as playing the viscous vampire. See a vampire can be both charming and dangerous (someone should have probably given Stephanie Myers a copy of this film). Whilst Amanda Bearse and Stephen Geoffreys do well as Charlies friends.

The affects work for this movie is great and the music also works well with the movie. Overall the film is brilliant and close to perfect.

Demons (1985)

Fun, Crazy Splatter Film

[8/10 · 14 January 2019]

Demons really is one of those movies that is just so silly that you just keep on watching it.

A man in a metal mask is handing out free movie tickets to strangers in Berlin. This leads them to the Metropol the new movie theater that is playing the movie. Once there one of the patrons cuts herself on a mask on display. As the movie starts she begins to feel sick and heads to the bathroom where she gruesomely turns into a demon. She then precedes to infect her friend before moving onto the audience. When they try to flee they find that they have been sealed in.

Really that description doesn't do the movie enough. Really it is full of everything that Italian horror has.

The plot is weak and the acting is bad with dubbing making it just plain laughable (Tony the pimp) and nothing is explained at all your just watching carnage for nearly 90 minutes. Though the only thing that I didn't like about the movie was the subplot of 4 punks riding around in a car. That just felt plain unnecessary.

But aside from that Demons is brilliant, great effects (the first onscreen transformation is just awesome) there are great set pieces the highlight being one character killing demons with a samurai sword while riding a motorbike. As well as that the film has got great music from Claudio Simonetti as well as from bands such as Pretty Maids, Accept and Motley Crue.

Overall if you want to see a fun 80s gore fest from Italian cinema then look no further than Demons.

City of the Living Dead (1980)

My Favourite Fulci Film

[8/10 · 13 January 2019]

I enjoy this movie much more than The Beyond. I think its got superior effects, better suspense, creepier music and a much more Gothic setting.

This is Fulci's first movie coming off the success of Zombi 2 and I think this movie shows just how Fulci's creates his surreal world. The story is fairly basic, a reporter and psychic go to the town of Dunwhich (HP Lovecraft reference) to stop the gates of hell from being opened.

Now this movie is no masterpiece by any stretch, its still a gore fest but this movie also shows that Fulci can craft a really good suspense (he did direct Giallo's in the 70s). The one sticks out in mind is when the psychic (Catriona MacColl) is buried alive and wakes up in the coffin just as the reporter (Christopher George) arrives, what follows is one of Fulci's best scenes and it doesn't even contain any blood.

However Fulci still lives up to his name as the master of gore, given us gruesome teleporting zombies, a drill going through a mans head and women vomiting up her own intestines.

The music by Fabio Frizzi is brilliant and really brings out the Gothic style of this movie though one of the pieces sounds a lot like a slightly altered version of one from Zombi 2. The town just looks dead from the start with only a few people here and there and it just adds to the mood.

City of the Living Dead is just a great example of Italian splatter movies whilst still showing that Fulci can craft suspense. Whilst the plot is weak and the acting not great the rest is just pure fun.

Body Count (1986)

An Italian take on the Friday the 13th

[4/10 · 13 January 2019]

To be honest I'm not the biggest fan of Deodato's films the only one I have seen apart from this was Cut and Run which I think is quite entertaining to watch. Right now Body Count sits with a 4.5 out of 10 so I expected it not to be very good. However I will say that what I got was something that wasn't amazing but proved to be a fun little slasher.

The film was released in 1986 about where the genre was starting to loose steam a bit but the genre was still going well in Italian with films like Michele Soavi debut film Stagefright which I believe is one of the most underrated slasher films. While I don't hold Body Count as highly I still believe it too is underrated but by no means a masterpiece.

The plot is basically like most slasher films. A bunch of young people will few brain cells decide to go to an old campground which years before had a wave of murders. The owner of the camp (played by David Hess) doesn't want them there but relents when there son turns up. As is expected the group gets picked off by the killer that seem to dominate every American back wood.

For starters the acting isn't great. David Hess and Mimsy Farmer who plays Hess's wife do a good job with the limited material but the actors playing are group of idiots aren't so great, they are just there to provide the killer with bodies for it to fulfill the movies title. And really they make the killers job so easy. Even when one of them turns up injured with his girlfriend missing they still stay at the camp and decide to act as if nothing is wrong, which leads to more of them being offed by the killer and still they don't really care. Great friends they are.

Now while the movie certainly lives up to its title, sadly it isn't as gory as you may think which I find kind of surprising considering that Deodato made the film as well as Cannibal Holocaust one of the most infamous films ever made that still brings up debates even today. But for some reason it seems he left all his fake blood in Italy. I'm not sure if he was doing this to get his film released in the states because a lot of slashers were usually quite bloody and this almost feels like a let down. But there are still some gory murders here and there as well a good deal of nudity so overall not bad just a little underwhelming.

Overall I don't think its a bad slasher film but not very good. I was satisfied with what I got, it had suspense, there were some good kills, there was great scenery and Claudio Simonetti score is simply brilliant and might actually be better than the movie. Despite it not being great I'm surprised that Arrow videos or 88 films haven't done a blu-ray of this yet. I own the uncut version but it is in 4:3 aspect ratio and the night scenes are hard to see. Hopefully this movie will soon get a much deserved Blu-ray release as it is a pretty decent slasher.

Inferno (1980)

Unfairly judged

[8/10 · 3 August 2018]

Sadly this film will probably always be considered inferior to its predecessor Suspiria. While I don't disagree that Suspiria is a master class in horror and to me his best work but Inferno is still one of his best works. Its not perfect but it is definitely one of the best sequels to any horror film.

One aspect that many people seem to have an issue with Inferno is the less than conventional way it tells it story. However when you think about it the plot to the film is pretty straight forward. The plot of Inferno is simple a young poet believes that the apartment building where she is staying is home is a front for the Mother of Darkness. Scarred she calls to her brother, a music student in Rome to come to New York to help her. Then anyone who is in the way of the witches gets brutally murdered. So overall the film isn't that hard to follow when you think of it but instead of using tons of dialogue and exposition (something that sort of halted Suspiria's progress for several minutes while attempting to explain the Three Mothers) and instead sticks to a visual representation.

Inferno contains some of Argento's best visual scenes. Not surprising seeing as how several were done by legendary Mario Bava. One being near the beginning of the film involves Rose Elliot diving into a small pool in the apartments basement to try and locate her keys. When she goes down into the pool she finds it is actual a submerged room containing the name of the Mother of Darkness. Another scene happens shortly after this where Mark is shown in a music study and trying to read his sisters later only to be distracted by the gaze of a silent women holding a cat in her arms and causing Mark to become tired and forgetting about the latter. This coupled with the music gives an almost fantasy element to this. Other well know scenes are Mark's friend Sara going to a library and her escape from an alchemy room below it. Both Sara and Rose's deaths and finally Mark's final search for the Mother of Darkness are among the many visually stunning scenes.

Another great thing about this film is the score. Rather that using Goblin for the soundtrack instead Argento used Keith Emerson to score the music and while Emerson will neither replace Goblin as my favorite composer for Argento films his score still bring a more traditional but still very effective score which is much different than the thundering style of Suspiria's but both films scores work in different ways.

However Inferno still has its own problems. First of all the main protagonist, Leigh McCloskey plays Mark Elliot and he is just a bad actor, probably one of if not the worst male protagonist I have seen in in one of these films. He looks like he arrived on set everyday stoned and Argento thought it was a good idea. Irene Miracle who plays Rose and Eleonora Giorgi who plays Mark's friend Sara both do great in their roles which makes it seem like for this film Argento knew how to right female characters better than male as either one of these should have taken on the main lead as both of these actresses showed great potential. The rest of the cast performances are dictated by how much the dubbing ruined their performances but Daria Nicolodi is the clear stand out but she dosen't do as much as in Deep Red. The last negative is the ending which feels too similar to Suspiria which is a shame because I'm sure Argento could have done something different but instead decided to do the same.

Overall Inferno is a great underrated move. The female leads are good, the visual are studding, the music is brilliantly done and the plot isn't all the confusing. But with the main character being bland and uninteresting and an ending that has already been done in Suspiria its not perfect. Not as good as Suspiria but miles better than The Mother of Tear, my score is 8/10.