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I first really discovered Val Lewton when I was in college. I had already seen some of his films on TV in my childhood. I remembered I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (which makes today’s flesh eating zombies very hard to take) and THE BODY SNATCHER because it had Boris Karloff whose 1960s THRILLER program IContinue reading “VAL LEWTON: 2 Books & 2 Docs”

It would come as no surprise to Val Lewton that even after 70 years his movies are still being marketed as horror films. That was how they first came into being. He surely would be surprised and thrilled that they are so highly regarded today for at the end of his short life (he diedContinue reading “THE VAL LEWTON COLLECTION Is Horror In Name Only”

Tim Burton’s adaptation of SWEENEY TODD presented me with a most curious paradox. As an adaptation of the Sweeney Todd story it would compare more than favorably with the other modern versions that featured Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, and Freddie Jones while easily surpassing the famous Tod Slaughter version which, aside from him, really isn’tContinue reading “SWEENEY TODD (2007): Tim Burton’s Film Is A Most Curious Paradox”

Now I can finally throw away my battered old VHS copy (yes, it’s that old) and enjoy this crisp new transfer of one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Despite credits to the contrary, everyone knows that SHADOW OF THE CAT is a Hammer film in all but name (the wardrobe mistress is Molly Arbuthnot soContinue reading “SHADOW OF THE CAT: Feline Frolics Or The Hammer Film That Wasn’t”

For many years CAT GIRL was nothing more than a title I had read about in David Pirie’s A HERITAGE OF HORROR along with the one usual final photograph of Barbara Shelley. Finally at the turn of this century I obtained a used VHS copy of the film and so finally got to see it.Continue reading “CAT GIRL (1957): British Version Of CAT PEOPLE Has Much To Recommend It”

It was made 13 years later (1986) and was marketed on video in the U.S. as a slasher film which it absolutely is not. I’m not even sure if THE FANTASIST was released in the U.S. theatrically and it is just now making its DVD debut there. Yes there is a serial killer and aContinue reading “THE FANTASIST (1986): Robin Hardy’s Barely Seen Follow Up To THE WICKER MAN”

It is a powerful testimonial to this BBC TV film that I have never forgotten it after seeing it only once back in 1980. I have forgotten which new cable network carried it, the long gone CBS Cable or the then new Arts & Entertainment network. Doesn’t really matter. What’s important is the impression itContinue reading “SCHALKEN THE PAINTER: It Took Me Over 30 Years To See This Again”

Words cannot do justice to Robert Fuest’s adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s FINAL PROGRAMME. At the time several people, especially the author, were highly displeased with the film. Having not read the book, I had nothing to compare it to but as a corrective to Stanley Kubrick’s impossibly bleak A CLOCKWORK ORANGE it was most welcome.Continue reading “THE FINAL PROGRAMME Just Gets Better With Age”

This is my favorite Jack the Ripper film which is not to say that’s it’s the best one, far from it, but it is an extremely well made low budget effort that benefits from strong performances and atmospheric cinematography. 1959 was a watershed year for British horror. The economic impact of Hammer Films was dulyContinue reading “JACK THE RIPPER (1959): Original British Version Available Only On An Italian DVD”

Although much maligned and virtually forgotten, this 1972 offering is my favorite cinematic telling of the Jekyll/Hyde saga. I have the U.K. Region 2 release rather than the Region 1 Image Entertainment DVD. The print quality is glorious and it’s a lot cheaper too. I like this version because it is the most faithful renderingContinue reading “I, MONSTER (1972): My Favorite Take On DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE”