Up From The Depths (1979)

Roger Corman's New World Pictures filmed a whole slew of low budget flicks in the Philippines throughout the 60s and 70s, and if you want a whole wealth on information on that I recommend the documentary Machete Maidens Unleashed.

What we're looking at today is one of the bajillion Jaws clones that flooded the market after the success of that damn shark...this one sits squarely in the middle. Not good or particularly bad, it simply exists (the best ones in the post-Jaws killer fish market are Orca, and ironically, Jaws 2 and 3). Piranha (1978) was Corman's first production a year before at the killer fish genre and was a stellar effort from director Joe Dante. I can't say the same for this film, with pedestrian direction from Charles B. Griffith (better known for his screenplays on cult classics Death Race 2000 and Little Shop of Horrors).

Remade in 2010 as Dinoshark, again produced by Corman.

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

I couldn't just review It! The Terror From Beyond Space and NOT review Planet of the Vampires as well- both make for a perfect double feature before revisiting Ridley Scott's Alien (which I'm not doing next but am to inevitably review down the line).

It! The Terror From Beyond Space (1958)

Everyone knows of Ridley Scott's Alien (1978), one of the most popular and successful science fiction and horror films of all time, spawning a film franchise, novels, comics, video games, toys, etc.
Well, it all started here, and about 60% of Alien has IT! to thank. The other 40% goes to Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires.

The Monster and the Girl (1941)

This obscure little Paramount feature has luckily seen the light of day once again after being picked up by Universal for their 90s Monsters Classics Collection VHS series and is attainable yet again on Amazon's DVD-R ordering service.

This one is an odd-ball. I'm going to go into it in separate parts, because what we have here is a genre-combining film of the most intriguing kind. There's yet to be another film like it, really.

Scream and Scream Again (1970)

As I begin this review I am simultaneously reading the novel on which it is based (albeit a few changes), Peter Saxon's The Disorientated Man (my spine-cracking 40+ year old copy is a movie tie-in edition retitled to match the film's).

The Burning (1981)

Often considered a rip-off of Friday the 13th in the ranks of the slashers that flooded the market in the wake of it and Halloween, this is simply not the case here as The Burning turns out to be quite superior and far more brutal than Jason and his mother ever hoped to be during the 80s.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

This film can never be overrated. One of the most visceral, realistic, and psychologically unbarring films ever made. Also a great demonstration in character study and deconstructing a villain by placing them as the protagonist.
Filmed in 1986 but not released until 1990, John McNaughton's film

Review: Last House On Dead End Street (1977)

This one's going to be a doozy. There are some films that truly test the tolerance of an audience. This is one of those films, to be joined with the likes of Cannibal Holocaust, Nekromantik, Cannibal Ferox, etc.

Review: Madhouse (1974)

I'm kicking off this blog with yet another review of a film from the end of an era, in this case for Vincent Price's tenure as the master of 60s/70s horror at American International Pictures. In the wake of The Exorcist and Jaws, Hollywood was changing. The gothic period horrors of Hammer and the creature features of AIP were becoming less popular as Hollywood and audiences began to focus on horrors taking place in the modern world, in contemporary settings. And that's what makes this Amicus/AIP co-production so charming. It's one of the last of its kind. It feels like a film made in 1968, not 1974. Serving as a farewell to Price's career at AIP in a very meta way, the film has him as aging actor Paul Toomes, a parallel for Price himself who was at the end of the glory days of his prestigious horror career, after Madhouse he would go on to sporadic parts in some genre films (The Monster Club, House of the Long Shadows, Dead Heat), commercials (Cousins Subs, anyone?), and voice acting (The Great Mouse Detective).