December 2009

REVIEW – Mutant

Published on: 30th December, 2009

The arena for low budget filmmaking was so vast during the 1980s that the drive-ins became awash with countless cheap productions: some exceeding their limitations whilst others worthy of nothing more than a bargain bin. One above average was Night Shadows, also known as Mutant, which was released with little fanfare in 1984 and [...]

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REVIEW – Basket Case

Published on: 29th December, 2009

The success of The Last House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the mid-1970s convinced many young wannabe filmmakers that with just a camera, a few thousand dollars and no studio support they could produce movies that had a chance of being picked up by distributors and make a modest profit. [...]

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REVIEW – Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

Published on: 28th December, 2009

The argument against sequels more often than not is that they are pointless. Often rehashing the same formula and characters (or carbon copies) and simply recycling them to be used again, very few are worthy successors to their often superior predecessors. Two films in particular come to mind when this accusation eventually turns [...]

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REVIEW – Shogun Assassin

Published on: 28th December, 2009

The existence of Japanese samurai movies broke into western pop culture during the 1970s but it was the release of 1980’s Shogun Assassin that they enjoyed mainstream success. Having starred as Bobby, the innocent city slicker forced to turn into a monster to defend himself from a clan of inbred cannibals, in Wes Craven’s low [...]

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REVIEW – First Blood

Published on: 28th December, 2009

By the time that First Blood was released in 1982, Sylvester Stallone had already gained acclaim for his performances in Death Race 2000, Nighthawks and three Rocky movies, as well being nominated for an Academy Award for his writing talents. Yet his turn as John Rambo in Ted Kotcheff’s low budget thriller proved to [...]

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REVIEW – Assault on Precinct 13

Published on: 28th December, 2009

Before introducing the world to Michael Myers and Snake Plissken, cult filmmaker John Carpenter had first entered the film industry with his student sci-fi spoof Dark Star. For his studio debut, he reworked Howard Hawks’ western classic Rio Bravo into an urban thriller that would first showcase his obsession with the John Wayne-style antihero. [...]

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SLEAZE QUEEN – Linda Blair

Published on: 27th December, 2009

Linda Blair may have shot to the attention of horror fans the world over with her turn as possessed child Regan in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, but arguably her most interesting and entertaining work was produced over the subsequent decade. Born on January 22 1959, Blair first entered the film industry at the age [...]

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CULT – Duel

Published on: 27th December, 2009

Sometimes the problem with becoming the most successful director of all time and having every tool in Hollywood at your disposal is that your work can lose its purity in time. That is not to say that Steven Spielberg has lost his magic, or that his big budget spectacles lack any kind of sincerity [...]

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REVIEW – Devil Times Five

Published on: 27th December, 2009

As much as society loves its children, it certainly doesn’t trust them. Not if the movies are to be believed. Village of the Damned, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, It’s Alive, The Omen… adults seem to have a fear that one day their offspring will turn on them, in much the same way as [...]

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REVIEW – The Prowler

Published on: 25th December, 2009

Before directing arguably the bleakest of the Friday the 13th movies (The Final Chapter), Joseph Zito had been responsible for one of the most gory and entertaining slasher flicks of the early 1980s. Released at a time when the cycle was at its most profitable, The Prowler gave fans of the genre exactly what [...]

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