Sober Horror Fan

Day 37 of Sobriety. My second 1979 vampire film in row, after Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu the Vampyre , Thirs t is also an unconventional entry in the vampire genre. The plot concerns a woman who is abducted by what I can only really describe as a “corporate cult of vampires.” They believe her to be the descendant of Elizabeth Báthory, and thereby capable of further empowering their organization. The well-organized vampires in this movie don’t stalk their victims like we are accustomed to, they keep them in farms and drain their blood using the vampiric equivalent of cow-milking machines.   This is an Australian film, but it features quite a few non-Australian actors, notably the prolific Henry Silva, and David Hemmings, who played the lead in Dario Argento’s Deep Red (1975). Although definitely a horror film, Thirst plays out much like a certain strain of pre- Star Wars dystopian science fiction movie, such as Westworld and Soilent Green (both 1973). Although in that...

Day 36 of Sobriety.  When I was about 19 years old, I used to have a huge poster of Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre on my bedroom wall—right above my bed. I don’t think I have actually watched the movie since around that time, but I remembered it being excellent, so, with yet another remake impeding (courtesy of The Witch director Robert Eggars), I figured it was time to give it another view. I am quite a fan of Herzog in general, so Herzog + Dracula is a great combination for me, and I really enjoyed my re-viewing of Nosferatu . It’s a shame that Herzog was never tempted to turn his hand to horror again, but I suspect that the “horror” aspect—at least the supernatural element—was not really what appealed to him about remaking  F. W. Murnau’s 1922 film (which Herzog acclaimed as the greatest film ever to come out of Germany). He has stated that he perceives his film to be a parable about the fragility of social order, and a study of the effect that an extern...

Day 35 of Sobriety.    Fascination is probably one of Jean Rollin’s most representative films. I think that might be largely due to the striking image of scantily-clad scythe-wielding Brigitte Lahaie, which is usually used to promote the film, and which is probably the single most iconic Rollin image. The film is perhaps the last of Rollin’s “golden age,” as (in my opinion) his films took a significant drop in quality after this with The Night of the Hunted (1980) and The Escapees (1981). Not that those films are without merit (I actually watched The Escapees for the first time two days after watching Fascination ), but, for me, they don’t come close to the best of Rollin’s work in the early 70s. I didn’t think Fascination was quite on a par with those earlier films either, but it came close enough and delivered plenty of what I want from a Jean Rollin film.    That is to say it transported me to another world, a world that lingered in some part of my m...

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...