The House that Dripped Blood

"The House that Dripped Blood" (1971, Peter Duffell, Amicus Productions) is a British horror anthology about a cursed house which sees the strange and unusual deaths of its inhabitants. I actually watched it as part of my personal homage to the life and works of Christopher Lee upon his recent passing. But, in true Hani style, I didn't actually get around to writing up the blog post until now!

We follow Inspector Holloway (John Bennett) as he is summoned to solve the disappearance of someone in the house. He goes to the local police station where he is told several tales of the house's strange past and we are taken along for the ride.

Each short is about the house's previous inhabitants. There are 4 shorts in all.

"Method for Murder" starring Denholm Elliot, Joanna Dunham and Tom Adams is about a horror writer who begins to see his new creation stalking him. It's a nicely realised piece with some quite disturbing stealth stalking and an ending very typical of British horror shorts. But in a good way.

"Waxworks" stars the legendary Peter Cushing and Joss Ackland who are both friends who become obsessed with a local waxwork museum's prime attraction: a beautiful murderess who looks like someone they once knew. It was a little slow in the uptake, but had a lovely proper feel to it that made up for that. And who doesn't love a good severed head on a plate?

"Sweets to the sweet" stars the wonderful Christopher Lee as a widower with a young daughter (Chloe Franks) whom he treats very strictly, not even allowing her to play with dolls. The daughter's new home-school teacher (Nyree Dawn Porter) thinks that he is being very unfair and buys the girl a doll.... Big mistake. My favourite of the collection because it went a way I wasn't completely expecting. The young Chloe Franks also did a fantastic job as the creepy child.

"The Cloak" is the final short and stars Jon Pertwee as a horror movie actor/diva, who has moved into the house whilst shooting a vampire film. He sources a strange black cloak from a local antiques and oddities shop ran by Geoffrey Bayldon, only to find that the cloak has special powers. His co-star is the fabulous Ingrid Pitt.

The pieces aren't ground breaking storytelling, but they are all well made, star studded and engaging. The film holds together well as an anthology and keeps the viewer interested.

Images: Amicus Productions

Hani

It Follows

"It Follows" (2015, David Robert Mitchell, Animal Kingdom, Northern Lights Films, Two Flints) is a smart horror that teaches us a lesson about having sex with people we barely know...

We open with a pretty brutal scene and it is just perfect and really grabs viewer attention.

The hue of the film and the way that scenes are lit is very 70s and early 80s horror retro, the styling and camera work are captivating and the score is an awesome concoction of Halloween-style nostalgia mixed with suspense. Stylistically this film is really attention grabbing and I enjoyed watching it, not due to plot, but for the experience. It was like finding an old film reel in your attic and watching it alone.

The plot is pretty simple. Jay (Maika Monroe) is a college student in Michigan. She enjoys paddling in her outdoor pool and hanging out with her sister and her friends. She's seeing a new guy called Hugh and she doesn't know much, if anything, about him. Jay, of course, doesn't care about that and the two wind up going at it like bunnies in his car on a very strange date.

As it happens, 'Hugh', has actually just given Jay a spooky sexually transmitted disease and now the creepy thing that always follows him is now following her. It's slow moving, can look like anyone and it just wants to kill her. And, in an almost Ring like fashion, the only way to get rid of it is to pass it on to someone else... via sexy, naked fun.

The film is well made and spooky as hell. While there is some quality gore now and again, the main fear comes from the haunting itself, and the feeling of dread is perfectly captured and built upon through the 'demon' as it unhaltingly stalks its prey. It's also a nod to the old horror trope: have sex, get dead.

My only flaw with this film is that the last act takes a while to come to a head. I suppose that this is done purposefully, but I did feel like a lot of running in circles was going on.

But, I have to take my hat off for this film, it is truly a work of horror art and has certainly made its mark in the genre!

[Image: Animal Kingdom, et al]

Hani

The New York Ripper

"The New York Ripper" (aka "Lo squartatore di New York", 1982, Lucio Fulci, Fulvia Film) is an Italian giallo film based in New York. It was also the subject of much censorship and banning.

I'm visiting NYC soon for my first trip there, so naturally, my first line of research into the city is to watch an Italian made slasher film. I'm sure it's very representative... Ok, no. At least I hope not!

So this film is chalk full of prostitutes, burnt out detectives, scantily clad young ladies, mental old ladies and mysterious slasher killers speaking like Donald Duck, only more psychotic. There's not much in the way of plot and pretty much every second scene is NSFW due to nudity, sexual acts... etc...

A strange film which is all about the (hopefully exaggerated) older, sleazier side of New York's culture. Fulci shows unflinching scenes of attacks on women by his deranged killer with some truly gross effects. Usually, this would not phase me, but the film is possibly just a little too sleazy for me. It's not an enjoyable gross-out-fest, it's just a bit uncomfortable to watch.

The cartoony voice does serve its purpose, that of making this film memorable, but on the whole it kind of negates any threat the killer had. Essentially, we are just lurching from kill to kill at a slow, drunken pace whilst our detective goes down all the wrong paths on his investigation.

Not the best example of Fulci's work.

[Image: Fulvia Film]

Hani

Poltergeist (2015)

"Poltergeist" (2015, Gil Kenan, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Ghost House Productions, Vertigo Entertainment) is the remake of the Tobe Hooper 1982 classic of the same name. It was produced by Sam Raimi, whom I have utmost respect for, but I'm afraid I still am not a fan of this film.

Firstly, the film did not need to be made. The original film is still a great scare-fest to this day and stands up well when compared to its modern day contemporaries. This redo is essentially a vanity project for its makers and nothing more.

Secondly, the film isn't really sure what it is. Is it a retelling of the story? Is it a modernisation of the story? Is it a kind of sequel? Is it an abrupt collection of all the best bits from the original quickly drafter together with more modern effects and rammed into a rather dull, predictable and essentially soulless redo of these scenes? Personally, I think the last one there hits the nail on the head.

The plot is altered, which I have no problem with except that it adds a few holes into the hows and whys of the haunting. My main issue, however, is that the film just seemed to be jumping from famous, iconic scene to famous, iconic scene without so much as a plot or a character development. And as adorable as little Madison (Kennedi Clements) is and as convincing as she is in her role, the delivery of the best line of the film "They're here" just doesn't quite pack the oomph of the original. By far the best acting comes from little Griffin (Kyle Catlett) who manages to keep the plot going.

I did like the Carrigan Burke character (Jared Harris) who replaces the Tangina character from the original. I admit I had my misgivings about changing the medium character so much, but he brought a much needed sense of banter to the cast.

Also, some of the new effects are indeed fantastic. The television scene is really quite chilling and the glimpse into the other side was really well realised. However, remaking a whole film just to show off your updated effects seems a bit tired to me. Give us something new!

All in all, if you haven't seen the original you may enjoy this film. But to me it was just an unnecessary rehash with more jump scares added and a much less frightening clown doll scene.

[Image: Ghost House Productions, et al]

Hani

They Live

"They Live" (1988, John Carpenter, Alive Films, Larry Franco Productions, Universal Pictures) is a satirical alien movie.

Nada ('Rowdy' Roddy Piper) is a drifter looking for work. He finally lands a construction job in L.A. and becomes friends with fellow worker, Frank (Keith David). Nada is convinced that there is something very wrong with the modern world's balance of power and wealth, and he's proven correct when he finds a pair of sunglasses which allow him to see the shocking true faces and harsh reality of the world: we are not alone and we are not in control.

The world is a scary place full of subliminal, brain washing adverts and Nada is determined to do something about it. He and Frank set on a journey to make the world aware of their alien overlords and put an end to it.

A fun 80s film with a tongue-in-cheek message about society, some really iconic alien effects and a great, cheesy score. You've got to love Roddy Piper as our classic B-movie hero, spouting one liners and strutting about.

Whilst, yes, it remains firmly planted by its B-movie roots: cheesy acting, some slow scenes, less than perfect effects - "They Live" remains a fabulous cult movie which is both watchable and enjoyable.

I love it!

[image: Alive Films]

Hani

May

"May" (2003, Lucky McKee, 2 Loop Films, Lions Gate Films) is a film about a lonely young woman who's only friend is a creepy doll her mother made her.

May (Angela Bettis) has always been an outsider. As a child (Chandler Riley Hecht) she had trouble making friends, so her mother made her one: a china doll called Suzy.

Now as an awkward adult working as a nurse in an animal hospital, May still has no close friends. She lives alone with her doll, to whom she shares all of her secrets. She has a crush on a cute mechanic from down the street who enjoys making macabre home movies and she has a complex relationship with her colleague, Polly (Anna Faris), a quirky lesbian woman who has a soft spot for May, but won't let that get in the way of her affair with another woman called Ambrosia. May is also prone to self harm.

As May's attempts to make friends with those around her fail she becomes more frantic. She perceives her failings to be the cause of Suzy and blames the doll for her situation. Although she tries desperately to fit in and to be a good person, as the film goes on she becomes more dangerous in her desperation.

I enjoyed this film. It's fairly slow burning with a nice balance of crazy and empathy built up around our title character. Bettis creates a three dimensional character who you really feel for, but know that she's not able to cope with normality. The plot keeps moving and there's a good amount of gore, suspense and fantasy. The final scenes are a good pay off and the end scene is very reminiscent of a favourite film of mine: "Pieces". There's enough humour peppered throughout to keep the tone light and the scenes are well shot and put together.

All in all, a really fresh film, even a few years on.

[Image: 2 Loop Films]

 

Hani

The Lost Boys: The Tribe

"The Lost Boys: The Tribe" aka "The Lost Boys 2" (2008, P.J. Pesce, Thunder Road Pictures, Hollywood Media Bridge) is the sequel to 1987 vampire film, "The Lost Boys".

I am a huge fan of the original film. It's funny, silly and gross and full of good tunes. The sequel, unfortunately, pales sorely in comparison. Even the extremely goofy third film, "The Lost Boys: The Thirst" manages to outshine the second one, even if it's only because it actually attempts to alter the plot somewhat.

The problem with "Tribe" is that it is a badly done redo of the original. Instead of the two Emerson brothers being forced to move to the fictional seaside town of Santa Carla, California to stay with their nutty grandfather and their kind of loopy divorcee mother, it is brother, Chris (Tad Hilgenbrink), and sister, Nicole (Autumn Reeser), also named Emerson, who move to Luna Bay (also a beach town), to rent a house off of their nutty aunt after their parents are killed.

Other parallels include the surf shop scene which is essentially the same as the comic shop scene, except instead of meeting the Frog brothers there, they are recommended to visit the Frog brothers' van by the surf shop guys.

The surfer vampire gang attempts to follow the same layout as the previous film's biker vampire gang. This is pretty forgiveable because it would make sense, I suppose, that vampires share the same habits and hierarchy. I did appreciate Kiefer Sutherland's half brother, Angus Sutherland, playing the part of head boy vampire, Shane, but it really wasn't enough of a nod to save the film.

Hands up, I've admitted my, possibly misguided, appreciation of Corey Feldman before. But even I can say wholeheartedly that this film sucked and his performance did not help it. The nods to The Goonies also did it no favours.

Essentially, the protagonists are annoying and lack the more three dimensional characteristics of Michael and Sam from the original and the badly scripted dialogue doesn't give the impression of being tongue-in-cheek and comes across as more stilted.

I have a high tolerance for bad films, but I just wasn't feeling this one, and the end scene with Corey Haim remains a sad homage to the troubled actor. I also just feel plain bad for Jamison Newlander who's scenes were deleted. Although, maybe he's happy about not being officially credited in this film... I don't know.

All in all, I'd recommend either sticking to the wonderfully funny, cheesy 80s original and pretending there were no sequels at all, or giving the extremely crappy, cheesefest third one a spin and ignoring this one altogether.

[Image: Thunder Road Pictures]

Can I ask what's meant to have happened to Edgar Frog's neck tattoos between film 2 and 3 or do we not talk about those?

Hani