Well, partly anyway. I’d already reviewed most of this year’s lineup, so I’ve padded the update with a couple of other things. I imagine you’ll see at once which two are the odd reviews out.
Castle of Blood (1964), in which betting a ghost’s landlord your ass is just as bad an idea as betting the Devil your head…
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010), in which being afraid of the dark is exactly the thing that one ought to do…
I, Monster (1971), in which Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde dare not speak their names for some unfathomable reason, even though John Lanyon and Frederick Utterson have no such compunctions…
Island of the Doomed (1967), in which some people simply never learn about sticking their noses into a mad scientist’s business…
and…
The Stepmother (1971), in which half the audience spend half the film wondering when they’ll get to the not-quite-incest, and half the audience will spend the other half of the film wondering when that detective will finally get around to busting the protagonist for murdering his client.
#1 by Jen S on September 26, 2011 - 12:13 pm
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Don’t Be Afraid…sounds like a good movie; plus, it’s the first horror film I’ve heard of since the orginal Amityville Horror that uses real-world financial strapping to keep the protagonists tied to a house. Alex has everything to lose if this renovation doesn’t happen–literally every penny he owns. Giving the Adult In Charge some kind of motivation to stick around an obvious Bad Place goes a long way towards eliminating the helpless “Dickhead Mulelishness pressing beyond any reasonable belief” that has crippled many a well meaning plot.
#2 by Blake on September 27, 2011 - 12:06 pm
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[quote]As for Blake… well, let me ask you something. Have you ever seen Christopher Lee smile? I mean no-shit, ear-to-ear grin in utter, joyful abandon? I certainly hadn’t. I can totally understand why not, too, ‘cause it’s just about the creepiest fucking thing in the entire fucking world![/quote]
My wife tells me to never grin like that in pictures for apparently the same reason.
#3 by Blake on September 27, 2011 - 12:07 pm
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Oops…wrong tags.
#4 by Thomas on September 28, 2011 - 5:56 pm
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Santo, are you an Arthur Machen fan? I reckon Del Toro’s more than a little obsessed with stories like “The White People” and “The Black Seal”.
Why the hell hasn’t anyone made a miniseries of The Three Impostors yet? It’d be great.
#5 by El Santo on September 28, 2011 - 8:39 pm
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I’ve read two of Machen’s stories, but that’s it. One was “The Novel of the White Powder;” I can’t remember the name of the other.
#6 by lyzard on October 3, 2011 - 6:10 pm
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“You’ll never forget THE CLUTCHING HORROR”.
Man…they knew how to write an ad-line in those days.
Typical. Fricking typical. We just can’t get no respect. No esteem, either.
#7 by lyzard on October 3, 2011 - 6:30 pm
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Mrs Stevenson was, alas, much quicker off the mark than Mrs Stoker – no prints had skipped the country before the destruction order was enforced. Der Januskopf is very high on my list of film tragedies; much higher than London After Midnight, for a start.
Yes, but only when he was clowning around with Peter Cushing, and in that context I found it sweet rather than creepy…although generally speaking, I see your point.
#8 by Braineater on October 11, 2011 - 8:55 pm
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I’m afraid I got pretty much the opposite impression from Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. The point where it absolutely lost me was when the barely-conscious Harris looks up from his hospital bed and — instead of explaining things — rattles off the lot number of an obscure library bequest… and then Kim discovers her local library is yet another branch of that amazing institution, the Place Where Everything in the Exposition is Waiting to be Explained to You (they opened a branch in Amityville in 2005).
Oh, god, I wanted to like it. I went to see it the moment the hurricane passed, and I planned to review it immediately. But I walked out of the theater upset and confused: there was so much to like in it, but so much I couldn’t stand…
#9 by maggiesmith on August 30, 2023 - 10:04 am
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“Why hasnt someone made a miniseries of The three Imposters?” I think the BBc did, once upon a time.