CALIGULA (1979)

This is a hard one to review..... as a film it is very well shot, the dialogue and acting is amazing and no expense has been spared with the production of this film. Its is captivating for almost the entirety of the 2 and a half hour duration of this cinematic epic.

I can't help but wonder how this went at the box office.  Whist an excellent depiction of the rise and eventual demise of the roman emperor Caligula (excellently played by Malcom McDowell who some would remember as the main protagonist from A Clockwork Orange) I doubt very seriously many theatre houses would have shown this film. The violence is of an extreme nature including genital mutilation and some pretty grim killings but in addition to this the sex scenes are on the same level as porn. When I say porn, I mean people actually having sex on film. I personally wouldn't categorize this as porn (as the movie does have a very well set out plot and story line and the sex scenes aren't the main focus of the film) but it does blur the lines between porn and drama. if you're watching it with a friend make sure its an open minded friend because it is very sexually confronting

For what its worth the film does have some some underlying moral themes about what happens to a degenerate society and the corruption of power and the more i think about it the film wouldn't have had the same impact without the extreme sex and violence so graphically portrayed.

Upon further research I discovered it was produced by Penthouse magazine so I guess they would have access to plenty of willing stars/starlets prepared to engage in the required nudity and sex on film along side some more well known actors of the time like Peter O'Toole and Helen Mirren (who get to keep their clothes on) I also wonder how this film affected the careers of the main stars after its release ... Might be something to do some research on me thinks.

I guess the best way to judge this for yourself is to check it out.... not an easy film to find but probably on amazon or ebay for those who are keen!



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ZOMBIE WOMEN OF SATAN

Sometimes a film can be so downright useless that it would be a waste of film even shooting it.... not this film, since it was probably shot of digital video camera haha!

The plot follows a bunch of circus performers one of whom has the most annoying personalities I've ever seen in a movie, which is partially what makes it hard to watch, but poor dialogue and poor acting complete the trifecta of lame-ness

There is a subplot with the owner of a nearby farm enticing young females into his experiments in trying to ressurrect the dead but it all comes across as corny and half assed. Not even gratitious female nudity and gore can save this stinker from the $1 bargain bin at the local DVD store, mostly I'm probably most annoyed with myself for paying $15 for it....

Maybe This would appeal to juggalo's, or the slightly retarded ..... I don't know really. it has the pretence of being a serious film, but it comes across closer to a Troma film than probably best saved for a day when you have absolutely nothing to do or you're too wasted on the couch to do anything meaningful.

Its Not all bad, there are some funny jokes and of course an assortment of goth chicks that just can't seem to keep their clothes on as zombies but really there's much better ways to kill a couple of hours of your life, and much better films to do it with

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FIRST HORROR FLICKS?

I always wondered who made the first horror flick, and when did it come out ?

Its hardly even able to be considered horror by todays standard but here for your viewing pleasure is The Haunted Castle from 1896

Since posting this (well over a year ago) I've found other versions of this little movie that have different soundtracks. Maybe the masters that were found didn't have audio on them so period music has been added. It would be fair to assume that in cinema's the audio might be seperatly played on a grammarphone in the cinema's so there might not even be any official audio to the screen play. Anyway here's another version for you guys out there:

Not much to be scared at but kinda cute in the way it was put together and well worth checking out at least once... it only goes for a few minutes anyway so you got nothing to loose!

anyway for more great horror movies and stuff check out http://www.gorenography.com

CHARLIES FARM

This is an Australian horror flim, It's harder for a country like mine to put out great horror with our much smaller film industry...  but this one is great!

Starring Tara Reid and visual fx by Chris Sun (his artwork is brilliant btw... do yourself a favour and check it out) This one follows the fortunes of for friends who decide to have a weekend away and visit a farm rumoured to be the site of multiple fruit picker killings. Morbid curiosity of course gets the better of the friends and despite warnings from the locals they decide to check out the farm house and the shit hits the fan from there.

I like the shooting style of this film, very defined yet very gritty, the special effects are gruesome with out being over the top in gore. Needless gore can sometimes dilute the impact of the horror on the viewer. This is gritty but not excessive, I really hope big things materialise in the future of Chris Sun.. he deserves it!

For more great horror movies and reviews be sure to check out http://www.gorenography.com