Sober Horror Fan

Day 34 of Sobriety.  Night of the Demon (AKA Curse of the Demon ) is rightfully considered a classic of the horror genre. I think I must have been in my early or mid-teens when last saw it. The plot concerns an American psychologist, John Holden, who travels to England to investigate a satanic cult that is suspected of committing murders by supernatural means. Holden is a dyed in the wool skeptic when it comes to anything supernatural, but, needless to say, this changes as the film progresses.   We, the audience, however, have no such skepticism, as the opening scene shows us one of those murders—perpetrated by the large demon that has become iconic in horror cinema. Apparently, there was a pretty heated debate between the film’s producer and director as to whether the demon (or any overt supernatural elements) should actually be shown in the film, or whether the audience should be left wondering. I am kind of the fence about which would have been better, because ...

Day of 33 Sobriety.  It was Halloween, so I thought I had better watch a horror flick. Like I need an excuse. The film I chose for what was probably my first sober Halloween in decades was 1988’s Ghosthouse , directed by Umberto Lenzi, the very prolific Italian director of mostly crime and giallo movies, but who is also well known to many horror movie fans for his gruesome forays into the briefly popular cannibal subgenre (particularly 1981’s Cannibal Ferox ). Ghosthouse , however, is a supernatural horror film about some youngsters who stumble across a haunted house. I enjoyed the film, but I’ll say right off the bat: this is no masterpiece of cinema! In Italy this film was retitled La Casa 3 to promote it as a sequel to the first two Evil Dead movies (which were titled La Casa 1 and 2 in Italy). Apparently, this did enable the film to become a box office success, but I can only wonder what the Italian moviegoers thought in 1988 when they went to see it expecting...

Day 31 of Sobriety.   Sister Death is a prequel to Spanish director Paco Plaza’s 2017 film about haunting and possession Verónica , which I have seen, but only very vaguely remember. The nun, named Narcisa, around whom this film revolves features in Verónica as an elderly blind nun whose own experience of the supernatural resulted in her intentionally blinding herself. This film covers that back-story. The film begins in 1949, with Narcisa arriving at a convent, which is also an orphanage and school for girls orphaned in the second world war. Narcisa has had visions of the Virgin Mary since she was a child, and begins having supernatural experiences of a more sinister nature soon after arriving at the convent, and she learns from the young girls in her charge that the place is haunted.   The first three-quarters of the film is a slow-burn build-up of Narcisa’s unsettling experiences, and it's quite effective. Nothing really new, but well enough executed, with some...

Day 30 of Sobriety. I was not expecting much from Castle of the Creeping Flesh , mainly because it has a reputation for being cheaply made, incomprehensible trash. Valid as those criticisms may be, I’m happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The film has all the hallmarks of a typical Italian or Spanish “eurohorror” film of the period, but this one was actually made in Germany, directed by Adrian Hoven, better known to horror fan’s for producing Michael Armstrong’s gory witch-hunting film Mark of the Devil (1970). It was no surprise at all to learn that Jess Franco was involved in the writing, because if someone had told me that this was Jess Franco film shot in Germany, I would have easily believed them. It also features a few of Franco’s regular roster of actors. The plot involves a group of wealthy party-revelers who decide to spend the night in an ancient castle inhabited by the very eccentric Earl of Saxon (played by Franco regular Howard Vernon).  The Earl’s...

Day 29 of Sobriety.  I was looking forward to The Pope’s Exorcist . I often like movies based around the themes of possession and exorcism, and my impression was that this film was going to present a fresh, contemporary take on those themes. It started well enough, with Russell Crowe stepping into the role of Father Gabriele Amorth—a rather unconventional Italian priest with a penchant for somewhat off-color wisecracks. The character of Father Gabriele Amorth is, of course, based on the real priest and exorcist of the same name, who passed away as recently as 2016. He authored a number of books on demonology and exorcism, and that is where the inspiration for The Pope’s Exorcist was drawn. For some reason Crowe’s rendition of Father Amorth kept putting me in mind of Ricky Gervais. I think it might have been the delivery of his frequent witty rebuttals to those who tried to question or undermine him.   As you would expect of a Russell Crowe vehicle, the film is s...

Day 26 of Sobriety. The Tomb of Ligeia is the last movie in what is generally referred to as Roger Corman’s “Poe Cycle” of films based (often very loosely) on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. If I am right there are eight such films, nine if you include the non-Corman directed, but very similar in style, The Oblong Box (1969). The Tomb of Ligeia is the sixth of the series that I have watched (or re-watched) recently, and although I greatly enjoyed it, quality wise I would place it in the lower ranks of those films in comparison to works like The Haunted Palace (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), and House of Usher (1960). Actually, although I still have a few films in the series to watch, I doubt any of them will reach the quality of those films, which I think are superb. In any case The Tomb of Ligeia still has a lot going for it. It has Vincent Price, of course, for a start, although I understand that he was not Corman's first choice for the part, having b...

Day 24 of Sobriety.  Dark August is one of the three films in Arrow Video’s American Horror Project Vol. 2 set. The film is about a man who has moved to a very small town in Vermont, and shortly after his arrival he accidentally hits a young girl in his car. He is acquitted of any responsibility for the accident, but the girl’s grandfather seeks revenge—through supernatural means. I liked Dark Augus t—certainly a lot more than the last American Horror Project film I watched, which was 1973’s Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood from Vol. 1. That film was a kind of very bizarre, trashy b-movie. In contrast, Dark August comes across as something akin to a 70s TV movie. I often like TV movies—I like the kind of low-key pacing and atmosphere they can have compared to theatrically-released films, and that was something I definitely liked that about Dark August . The film kind of ambles along with few surprises, but it’s an effective mood piece, and also serves as an appealing tim...

Day 23 of Sobriety. Poison for the Fairies is part of a collection of three films by Mexican director Carlos Enrique Taboada that was put out on blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome. The set is titled Mexican Gothic , so, although I was not familiar at all with Taboada, I guess I had some preconceptions or expectations about what the films might be like. Poison for the Fairies is the second film I have watched from the set. The first was Rapiña , from 1973. I was quite disappointed with Rapiña , because I would not personally classify it as “gothic” at all. It is not a horror film, either—more of a depressive crime drama that has a lot to say about society, poverty, and the human condition. Not a bad film by any means, but not what I was looking for when I bought a set of movies with “gothic” in the title. That makes me think about how my preconceptions and expectations can often make a huge difference to how much I appreciate a film. Going into watching Poison for the Fairies , ...

Day 22 of Sobriety. Lukas Feigelfeld's debut feature Hagazussa is a strange film. It is a film about… What exactly? On the surface, witchcraft, but really, so much more. It has been a few days since I watched it, and I am still processing it. It’s set on a remote mountain in the Austrian Alps in the 15th century. The story spans 15 years of a young, geographically and socially isolated girl’s descent to witchcraft, or madness, or both. It is very slowly paced and obliquely plotted, visually beautiful with superb atmospheric soundtrack. It is a good example of what I like to call a “trance movie.” I found it utterly haunting, and I loved it. As I said, the story is told very slowly and sparsely. Relying on suggestion and subtle visual cues and clues. There is little in the way of exposition. This could be frustrating or refreshing, depending on how you feel about it. I found it a bit of both, I suppose, but I the film couldn’t really be any other way and still achiev...

Day 21 of Sobriety. The last time I saw Alan Parker’s Angel Heart was as a teenager back in the 80s, shortly after it came out. I enjoyed it a lot back then, and it has been on my subconscious “must rewatch” list for a while now. Fortuitously, a friend’s son was kind enough to lend me his blu-ray of the movie while I was visiting their house a few days ago. As an aside, that visit to my friend’s house was the first time have really been out socializing since I stopped drinking. There were a few people there and most others were having a few beers or whatnot. Drinking normally—not to excess or getting intoxicated. I was sticking to my alcohol-free lager. I enjoyed myself, but I can’t say it was a breeze, exactly, and thoughts of caving in and having drink crossed my mind several times, but it was more like, “Imagine if I did that...” rather than a real craving, so that, at least, is encouraging.   I remember also being encouraged when my friend’s son came home part wa...

Day 16 of Sobriety. No, not the 2009 film of the same name by Lars Von Trier, but an Italian film from 1974, directed by Alberto De Martino, which is sometimes titled The Tempter . I am not familiar with Alberto De Martino, but looking him up on Wikipedia, it seems he made a lot of pepla (sword-and-sandal) films, some gialli, westerns, spy movies, but only a couple of other horror movies. I’d heard The Antichrist was derivative of the The Exorcist , but I’d say it was more like the unholy offspring (see what I did there) of The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby . The plot centers on Ippolita, a wheelchair-bound young woman who was paralyzed in a car crash that also caused the death of her mother. However, Ippolita’s paralysis has been diagnosed as psychosomatic, induced by her traumatic experience. That trauma has also caused her to have various other mental issues, including a possessive dependence on her extremely wealthy father. She also seems to be somewhat psychic. Her f...

Day 15 of Sobriety.   Well, it was Friday the 13th today, but I avoided the obvious and watched Pyewacket, yet another film that I found out about through the Discover the Horror podcast. I had never actually heard of this 2017 Canadian film until they discussed on their episode about “witch movies.” The name is apparently taken from the name of a witch’s familiar spirit that was mentioned by “Witchfinder General” Matthew Hopkins in a text he wrote in 1647. The film is about a teenage girl called Leah who is a kind of goth/metal fan, and as sometimes goes with that territory, she is also interested in the occult. She has a difficult relationship with her mother (played by Walking Dead actress Laurie Holden), who is raising her alone following her father’s death in a car crash. After one particularly bad fight with her mother, she reaches in anger for one of her books on the occult and attempts to summon a demon to kill her mother. Unfortunately for her, it works. I ...

Day 14 of Sobriety. I was motivated to watch The House on Haunted Hill after hearing it being discussed on the Discover the Horror podcast (which is great, as I have mentioned previously). It’s one of the better known films by prolific director William Castle, who also directed horror movies such as The Tingler (1959), Mr. Sardonicus (1961), and 13 Ghosts (1960)—all of which I have heard of but never seen (well, actually, I might have seen The Tingler when I was a kid). He also produced Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby . One of the things that William Castle was famous for was his advertising and promotion gimmicks. For example, when The Tingler was screened in some theaters, certain members of the audience had vibrating seats, which gave them a jolt at appropriately shocking moments. For his first movie, Macabre (1958), he gave every audience member a $1,000 life insurance policy in case they died of fright while watching the film! For The House on Haunted Hill , some screenings ...