31 Days of Halloween - Day 20 - Movie 1

In The Invisible Ghost (1941), Bela Lugosi plays a beloved doctor who is compelled to murder my visions of his absent wife. This is a better than average no frills thriller with a decent cast of characters and a sympathetic Lugosi as a man unaware of his hidden compulsion.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 20

The Abominable Snowman from 7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964). Cut paper.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 19 - Movie 2

On her deathbed, a genetic scientist asks her son, John, to burn all of her research and to not get sucked into picking up where she left off. She also mentions "Anthony" the brother John never new he had. Instead of immediately destroying everything as asked, John recruits a bunch of his scientist friends to go through his mothers journals in order to find out anything about Anthony. When they finally do, it's to discover that Anthony was the culmination of his mother's research, and that a far less ethical scientist is also after Anthony for his own ends.


The Kindred (1987)is a prime example of 1980s gooey rubber monster movies. Even though the design for the creatures is a bit less than convincing, and some of the characters were indistinguishable, this movie was actually pretty damned entertaining. Things moved along pretty quickly, and even when there was no monster action happening on screen, the human interactions were interesting enough that they didn't seem like filler between the effects scenes. There is also a nicely done sequence where one of the characters sprouts gills right before our eyes.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 19 - Movie 1

People are being murdered in Los Angeles by a killer dubbed "The Mangler" who rips their faces off and only kills at night. On the Mangler's trail are a detective (Richard Jaeckel) a best selling author and father of the first victim (William Devane) and a reporter trying to be taken seriously (Cathy Lee Crosby).

Throw in Casey Kasem as a pathologist and Dick Clark as one of the film's producers and you have The Dark (1979). Formulaic in it's pattern of murder, "we need answers" murder, like many low budget monster on the loose movies, the movie remains watchable mostly through Richard Jaeckel's performance. The Mangler turns out to be some sort of super strong, bullet proof, alien who can shoot energy beams out of his eyes. Apparently this was originally meant to be a zombie movie which tested poorly, so it was changed into a space monster movie by adding the laser beam eyes and so forth. Either way, it plays out like a glorified tv movie, or an episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, without Kolchak.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 19

Schlitze in Freaks (1932). Cut paper.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 18 - Movie 2

A young woman in a wheelchair returns to the house of her wealthy father after an absence of ten years. She discovers that her father had to leave town and is left with her step-mother that she's meeting for the first time, the chauffeur, a doctor friend of the family, and the housekeeper. She has two experiences where she thinks she sees her father's dead body on the property, but no one believes her and she begins to believe that she imagined it. Then evidence appears which makes her think her father really is dead and that her step-mother is trying to kill her for the inheritance.

Scream of Fear (1961) is one of the Hammer movies that no one ever seems to talk about, but they should. This is a compelling psychological thriller with more secrets and revelations than you can shake a stick at, and they all work. The cast is excellent, and there are some lovely black and white visuals. The script by Jimmy Sangster is one of his best.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 18 - Movie 1

A pianist witnesses the murder of his neighbor, a psychic, then finds himself trying to uncover the identity of the killer even while the killer is working to block his investigation and kill him as well.

Profondo rosso/ Deep Red (1975) is a beautiful, stylized giallo by Dario Argento, with some truly gorgeous compositions and camera work. The plot, as with many giallos, is fairly convoluted and, like motivations and logic, secondary to the journey of the protagonists and to the murders themselves. It's best just to sit back and enjoy the ride without worrying too much about what route you are taking. It's easy to get sidetracked by details that don't make sense or add up in the end, but which make for interesting visuals, and keep this a riveting film to watch.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 18

Vincent Price as Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General (1968). Cut paper.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 17 - Movie 2

A team of archeologists exploring Mayan ruins encounter an ancient, corrosive, blob creature which the Mayans called the god, Caltiki. The archeologists manage to destroy the creature but bring back a sample to civilization to study and once again face peril when this sample grows to enormous size.

Caltiki, The Immortal Monster (1959) has a plot that's pretty hokey and melodramatic, but features some nice photography, really decent effects, and a blob monster that is disgusting  and really comes across as some weird living organism rather than simply a special effect. Riccardo Freda was the director, but he apparently stepped aside to allow Mario Bava would have a chance to direct.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 17 - Movie 1

A wealthy, alcoholic woman is tired of her philandering, gold digging husband. An encounter with a UFO and its giant occupant gives her the opportunity to get even, when she grows into a giant herself.


I have not seen Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) since I was a kid, and really remembered nothing about it, except for what I've since seen in stills and in the trailer, so I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Allison Hayes, William Hudson and Yvette Vickers as the three sides of the romantic triangle, such as it is, are particularly good. Unlike films such as The Amazing Colossal Man, Allison Hayes remains normal size until close to the very end, which is actually fine since the movie is better before the giant woman appears on the screen. Sadly, the special effects, even for their time and budget, are anything but special. Both the space giant and the 50 foot woman are transparent against the backgrounds that they are superimposed over, and the 50 foot woman's scale is wildly inconsistent with her appearing to be about twenty feet tall in some scenes. The two giants are also represented by the least convincing oversized rubber hands imaginable (I'm guessing probably the same fake hand, only with mats of hair added for the male giant). Why they didn't simply use forced perspective with real hands, and non-superimposed actors is beyond me.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 17

The hobo's dog in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Cut paper.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 16 - Movie 2

Margaret Hichcock (Barbara Steele) is having an affair with the physician, Dr. Livingstone (Peter Baldwin), treating her ill husband, Dr. Hichcock (Elio Jota) who holds an interest in the supernatural. Margaret convinces Livingstone to murder her husband. When they find themselves essentially cut out of his will, they begin trying to get their hands on Dr. Hitchcock's hidden money, but are repeatedly foiled by ghostly visits from Dr. Livingstone.

The Ghost (1963) has a an unreal quality to it which lends it an atmosphere which heightens the effect of the story. Even the poor dubbing lends itself to this dreamlike quality. Visually it's quite striking even if the plot does feel a little long. Towards the end there are some nice plot points that elevate the mostly by the numbers script which comes across as something of a knock off of Les Diaboliques (1955).

31 Days of Halloween - Day 16 - Movie 1

I've decided not to give a plot recap of Crimson Peak (2015), Guillermo Del Toro's lush gothic romance, because I don't think it would do it justice, and I think that movies tend to be more enjoyable the less you know going in. The story itself, on the surface, is about as basic as you can get, but it's below the surface that really adds a rich texture to the film. There is sumptuous production design, costumes, and Del Toro's color coded manner of delivering information supporting the themes and character relations. There is also a lot pertain to the eye; to seeing and perception, the act of revealing as well as concealing and mirroring, or shadowing the way characters are dressed. This is an absolutely gorgeous movie, dense with visual information and compelling performances.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 16

Doug Bradley as the Hell Priest in Hellraiser (1987). Cut paper and nails.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 15 - Movie 2

As the zombie apocalypse spreads across the earth, a group of people hole up in a local shopping mall in order to survive. This basic premise is really all that connects Dawn of the Dead (2004) with the superior George Romero film that it "reinvents." I remember first seeing this and being really impressed with how intense the pre-credits opening of this film was. Few zombie films start with the outbreak just taking place. Most of them already have civilization essentially collapsed by the time the story starts. Unfortunately, all of that tension dissipates by the time the characters get to the mall and never really comes back.

In the mall, the characters don't really have to go through the process of clearing out the undead and shoring it up as a safe house. Here, the mall is essentially empty except for a trio of redneck security guards, who don't take long to stop being a threat themselves. This whole crew goes through the rest of the movie almost completely safe from the zombies until they decide to leave and head for a boat and then an island. With many of these films, it's really a commentary on how humans are their own worst enemies, especially in times of crisis. I've seen that movie before and this Dawn of the Dead remake, while being fairly entertaining, doesn't bring anything new to the subgenre.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 15 - Movie 1

When a nightclub owner is murdered for not selling to a local criminal, his girlfriend, Sugar (Marki Bey) turns to an old voodoo queen for help. Summoning Baron Samedi, Sugar makes a pact with him for revenge using Samedi's army of the undead.

Sugar Hill (1974) is a perfectly entertaining supernatural revenge thriller. The plot structure is pretty much by the numbers for this type of story.  It does have its tongue too far in cheek to ever really be effective as a horror movie. The bad guys, led by Robert Quarry,  are vile and racist, so their offing one by one is something to cheer. Baron Samedi is a little too much the clown to be effective as an intimidating supernatural power, but the stylized zombies, with their grease paint emaciation and bulging silver eyes are great. Covered in webs, and when they emerge from the ground, leaves and pine needles, they really do convey the idea of genuinely rising up from their graves.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 15

The Ymir from 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957). Cut paper.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 14 - Movie 2

Two bumbling American cops (Bud Abbott, Lou Costello) training with the London police find themselves tracking down the murderous Mr. Hyde, unleashed by his alter ego, Dr. Jekyll (Boris Karloff) to murder colleagues who have scoffed at his ideas.

Somehow I've managed to go my entire life until now never having seen Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953). While not the masterpiece that Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was, this film does it right in the same way by keeping the horror elements horrific and playing them mostly straight. Amplified by some nice photography, sets, and atmosphere, these scenes fit right in with the Universal horror classics of the 1930s and 1940s. There's even a nice nod to Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in the wax museum scenes. The comedy elements work well for the most part, only fumbling with the reuse of some familiar gags.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 14 - Movie 1

When a series of murders take place at a remote hotel, the bellboy (Lou Costello) becomes the prime suspect, but the hotel detective (Bud Abbott) and a police detective (James Flavin) try to determine the identity of the real killer amongst a pool of suspects.

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949) is something of an old dark house mystery set in a hotel, and with a bunch of shenanigans from the comedy duo. The solution to the mystery is unnecessarily convoluted, but is really not terribly important when the real concerns of this movie is to supply laughs, of which there are many. Karloff is great as one of the key suspects who tries to hypnotize Costello into killing himself. It makes you wish that Karloff had participated in more comedies.

31 Days of Halloween - Day 14

Igor (Marty Feldman) in Young Frankenstein (1974). Cut paper.