Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Haunting"

Year: 1963
Actors: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson, Russ Tamblyn
Director: Robert Wise
Formats: VHS, DVD
Price: £3.49

Mini Review

Do you believe in ghosts? Well a stay at the house on the hill will help you find out. A psychiatrist invites three guests to take part in supernatural research. The guests are given the run of the old Hill House and are asked to report on any goings on. As you can imagine it isn't long before things start going bump in the night. The activities seem to be targeting the most nervous guest, Nell. The mystery of the knockings and banging continue throughout the movie and create quite an oppressive feel. I did find that I wanted to know the source of the occurrences but was not overwhelmed by the "solution". What will the verdict on the ghost be? True, false or something else. Whether you are a seasoned mystery/haunted house movie goer or just venturing in to the genre, this is a great example of a well made movie.

Verdict

I'm always in two minds about this movie. On one hand it is a great watch and would definitely recommend for haunted house movie lovers. There's a strong plot development and the "ghosts" are an interesting take on what should make us afraid. The acting is also rather good for this genre. It's all too easy to put some strangers in a big empty house and the whole movie go very dull, thankfully the actors keep the plot going at a nice pace.

The reason I hesitate in getting too excited about this film though is that it is a little bit predictable. As I had such high hopes for this movie based on other reviews I think that it doesn't quite live up to the ground breaking reviews that it often receives. However, I can honestly say it is a good movie and very cheap to pick up on DVD these days. Give it a go, you may really like this one.

Pros: Very solid movie, good acting and good old fashioned story telling.

Cons: The character of Nell tends to annoy me a bit due to the persistent whining. Overall the story is reasonably predictable if you are familiar with haunted house movies.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 unseen ghosts out of 10.

If you liked this try: The House On Haunted Hill,

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: The Haunting

Wikipedia: The Haunting

Amazon: The Haunting [DVD] [1963]

The Haunting (1963) Trailer

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Woman in Black"

Year: 1989
Actors: Adrian Rawlins
Director: Herbert Wise
Formats: VHS, DVD
Price: £17.99 (due to a limited production number)

Mini Review

It's a simple set up. A young lawyer (Arthur Kidd) has been appointed to take care of the estate of a recently deceased lady. Her estate just happens to be in one of the most isolated and creepy marshes ever! Arthur soon arrives to the conclusion that something isn't right with the house, especially after an early encounter with the Woman in Black overlooking her own funeral. Arthur continues his business in the isolated house, trapped by both the incoming tide as well as the fret (sea fog) that surrounds the house.

As you can imagine, there's not too much dialogue but there is a lot of haunting music and silence. Can Arthur get to the bottom of the mystery that surrounds him? is he mad? is their a ghost? It's a gripping movie that delivers genuine spine-tingling thrills.

Verdict

Pros: Yes, yes, yes! This is ghost story telling at it's best. There's elements of suspense, story development and above all it's easy to feel the same sense of unease that Arthur Kidd is experiencing throughout the movie. Do not hesitate, this is a best in class ghost story.

Cons: I nearly s*it my pants I jumped so much at one scene in particular (you all know which one). My advice is not to sit too close to the TV in the dark with the sound on high the first time you watch this one.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 10 night terrors out of 10.The best of the best ghost story adaptations.

If you liked this try: The Haunting,

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: The Woman In Black

Wikipedia: The Woman In Black

Amazon: Woman In Black

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The House on Haunted Hill"

Year: 1959
Actors: Vincent Price
Director: William Castle
Formats: VHS, DVD
Price: £2.99 ($6)

Or watch for free at the bottom of this post! :-D

Mini Review

I reccomend buying the DVD as you will want this in your collection in decent quality. There's many editions, various cheap options, the re-mastered versions and very excitingly a re-mastered coloured version! It's a little "Pricey" but the re-mastered colour edition is worth the money.

I have all three but for this review I'm watching the re-mastered black and white edition as it's perhaps how the majority of viewers will see this for the first time. I first saw this one as a young boy back in the '80s and have had a lasting love of Vincent Price's work and haunted house movies ever since.

Vincent Price plays the role of a rich businessman who will financially reward his five guests ($10,000) provided that they can survive a night in the House on Haunted Hill. Price and his wife Annabelle hold a dinner party with a difference. Guests are given "Party Favours" in the form of hand guns (only in America). The guests themselves are a collection of locals, there's a pilot, a secretary, a psychiatrist, a writer and the house owner. All of which have a reason for wanting the cash reward more than most. Can they survive the many ghosts that are said to haunt the house?

The plot plays out with a creepy mystery/who dun'it/haunted house vibe. As the film is so story driven I don't want to give anything away here. There are jumps and scares along the way. It all hangs together very pleasingly as Vincent Price camps it up but at the same time seeming utterly convincing in the role. There are moments when you want to shout out "Don't separate in to groups you fools!" but it's all part of the nature of the film.

Verdict

Pros: It's well written, has solid pacing and above all it is story driven. The lack of special effects and the setting of a creepy looking house are what gives this film a delightful classic feel that is as watchable today as it was back when it was released.

Cons: I'm really struggling. There is one small nag I have regarding an event with a rope that looks/behaves supernatural yet isn't really explained how this happened. Overall though I'm literally picking at the most minor of film quirks.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 9 disembodied heads out of 10. An absolute must for any haunted house fan.

If you liked this try: The Haunting, House on Haunted Hill (1999),

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: House On Haunted Hill

Wikipedia: House On Haunted Hill

Amazon: House On Haunted Hill [1959] [DVD]

"The House On Haunted Hill" Full Movie.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

Tonight's Midnight Movie: "The Last Man on Earth"

Year: 1964
Actors: Vincent Price
Director: Ubaldo Ragona
Formats: VHS, DVD
Price: UK £2.99 (Remastered Colour £3.24), USA $3.98 (Remastered Color $11.63)

Or watch for free at the bottom of this post! :-D

Mini Review

Not strictly a horror movie but more of a post-apocalypse movie. I'm reviewing today as my personal view is that the theme of the movies does fall in to the boundaries of the Zombie genre. Vincent Price play the role of Dr Morgan, the sole survivor of an apocalyptic outbreak of disease. However, the bodies of the dead re-animate and seek death to the living. To get round this problem Morgan must burn the bodies of the infected that pile up at his door each night. Each day Morgan must carry out his life in a new way to survive, there are the daily tasks of collecting gas, burning bodies in the pit, gathering fuel etc. By night he must barricade himself in his home and fend off the infected horde.

Throughout the movie we get small fragments in to life before the apocalypse including seeing Price's family, colleagues and general impressions of the time. It adds a nice roundness to the story telling and puts the disaster in context. As the plot progresses we see Morgan's state of mind come to terms with the new world. I don't want to give away much plot here so it is suffice to say that Morgan establishes communication with the zombie-like humans and raising the interesting dilemma of what life is.

Verdict

The idea has been played out in a number of movies such as "The Omega Man", "Last Man On Earth" and more recently "I am Legend" and all adapted from the same book. Having seen all three movies I still favour "The Last Man On Earth". Perhaps because I'm slightly biased towards Vincent Price as an on screen presence but also because I feel that it's the most rounded of the movies. As always Price is timeless in the role of Dr Morgan. The routine nature of his new life is played out to perfection and you really get the feeling that the start of the film is more like a documentary rather than a feature film. Where "The Last Man On Earth" really triumphs though is in it's simplicity, no special effects save for a couple of interesting camera techniques and no high budget sets. It's not needed and wasn't included which I think is it's greatest strength against "I Am Legend". Overall this is a movie that won't scare you but it will make you think about the nature of humans and disease.

Pros: Vincent Price in a serious and jaded character role yet accessible as a character.

Cons: For me the ending just doesn't work as well as it could but this is really down to personal taste.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 7 burnt corpses out of 10.

If you liked this try: The Omega Man, I Am Legend.

Should our review not be enough for you try these links.

IMDB: Last Man On Earth

Wikipedia: The Last Man On Earth

Amazon: The Last Man On Earth [DVD] [1964], The Last Man on Earth (Digitally remastered in colour) [DVD] [1964]

"Last Man On Earth" Full Movie.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.

Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

What is the worst horror movie ever made?

For my first post I thought I'd get the worst out of the way first (something better tomorrow).

This is a category that is wide open. Certainly looking at my collection I've got some that are real contenders. Leprechaun 4: Leprechaun in the Hood, some of the early "B" movies and of course there's many to choose from the Hammer Studios when things started going wrong. All of these I can excuse though for various reasons. Leprechaun 4 was obviously a joke, the "B" movies don't usually set out to impress you on budget or acting and the Hammer Studios offset their poorer outings by their classics.
However, there is no excuse for tonight's midnight movie. I speak of "Troll 2". It's one of those movies that has no reason to exist. It ticks all the major boxes of poor story, low budget and some of the worst acting imaginable. Some movies are so bad that they're good, Troll 2 is just so bad it makes you feel ill. The sum of it's parts create a movie of bewildering proportions far worse than you initially expect. From start to finish I was asking myself, "How did this get made?", "Why was this made?" and "What the heck is going on?".


My best guess is that someone said "We've got some Troll costumes lying around and a cheap camera, let's throw them at passing students and out of work actors and see what happens!". It's appalling in every sense of the word. What really gets me is how the movie is clearly called "Troll 2" yet the creatures are never once referred to as Trolls, they are always called Goblins?!?!? That's how bad it is in terms of continuity, a two word title and it's neither a proper part 2 nor about Trolls! (Yes I realise there is a film called Troll but it's really nowhere near as bad nor closely related to this title).


So, what's it all about? I hear you ask. Well, I'll break it down in to a summary (a detailed description would make me too upset). Grandpa Seth tells his grandson of the legend of the trolls goblins. To feed on human flesh the goblins must first convert the humans in to a plant like creature. This is done by feeding them their special mixture, primarily "Nilbog" milk, leading to the terribly acted "Nilbog is Goblin spelt backwards!!!". Shortly after consumption the humans start leaking green goo and are ready to eat. It's ridiculous in every sense of the word. At some point towards the end of the movie someone decides that the head goblin must be destroyed. This is perhaps one of the few things in the movie that made me laugh. It was a laugh of despair though. Imagine being utterly bored and disgruntled for what seems like an eternity, then the head goblin pops up. Just as you think that acting can't get any worse, there it is. Troll 2 manages to step it up a gear on the crap-o-meter. You can't understand how bad the acting is until you see it for yourself. Part of the time the "actors" are clearly reading from off screen q-cards and they aren't even doing that well. The phrase "They're eating her and then they're going to eat me! Oh my God! AAAhhhhh!" is perhaps the low point of movie history. Some kind person has put up an extract on youtube (please watch with low expectations).

In a short review like this I can never convey how bad this movie is. At the same time I strongly recommend that you don't ever watch it even out of curiosity. Just believe me that the is no and can never be as film as bad as this. Troll 2 stands in my collection shunned by the rest of it's DVD brethren. I find perhaps the most disturbing issue about Troll 2 is that after all this time the evil of their movie has not been forgotten. Unbelievably it is now available on Blu-Ray! For the life of me I cannot imagine the type of twisted individual that would be able to stomach the shame of taking the purchase to the counter. Even buying anonymously through the internet is likely to put you on "some sort of register" with the credit card companies. Personally I feel dirty just handling the DVD version and somewhat violated whilst I'm watching the movie.

The Haunted Cinema Rating: 0 Nilbog Milks out of 10. It's just upsetting that things like this happen.

Do you know a movie worse than Troll 2? I would genuinely love to hear your suggestions in the comments box. For me Troll 2 is so far out ahead I've never found anything close to challenging it for shocking quality. "Troll 2" makes "Santa vs the Martians" look like it was directed by Scorsese in comparison.


Happy hauntings, Jiblet.


Your views: Watched this? Own this? Recommend this? Have a question about this? Please feel free to comment.

The Haunted Cinema

The Haunted Cinema

Good evening all! Welcome to the Haunted Cinema. A fine look at the spooky world of the movies.


I hope the blog will be a not so serious look at some of the best (and worst) late night movies. Whether it be Haunted Houses, Ghost Stories, Mysteries, The Supernatural or 80's Slashers, I'm sure that they will all be covered in the blog at some point. Since my childhood I've loved the creepy movies so I thought I'd share some of my recommendations here.

I would love to hear your favourite scary movie gems too. The blog will tend towards older films but I will be sure to cover topical cinema too from time to time.

Happy hauntings, Jiblet.