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

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)

Dawn of the Dead represents a huge step forward in filming technology and budget for director George A Romero. I have to admit that revisiting "Night of the Living Dead" as an adult gore-fiend left me a little underwhelmed, I do love the movie and I know it was a groundbreaking film for its time but really its hard going from the visually spectacular horror films we have today back to the rudimentary execution of NOTLD.

Mr Romero's second venture into the world of the undead, this one from 1978 still holds up remarkably well against the zombie flicks of today. despite being over 2 hours long this one holds the viewers interest, of course being shot in colour played no small part in this.  The film allowed Romero to go a little wild on the gore, rendering it one of the more graphic american films to have been released at the time. The VHS copy I have shows it to have an "R" rating (restricted to adults) but by todays standards it would most likely have earned the 15 year old rating which to me makes it good wholesome family fun that you can let your older kids watch without the exploitational nudity and sex that other european films being released at the same time were saturated in.

Plot wise it doesn't have anything really to do with "Night of the Living Dead" save the fact that zombies have risen from the dead and are devouring anything and everything in their path. This time round much of country seems to have been overrun with the reanimated corpses. The story itself revolves around a small group of survivors who have taken refuge in a shopping mall and attempt to survive off the supplies within the mall for months while civilization around them (presumably) collapses and the undead around the mall attempt to break in and consume them. There is some cool interpersonal play within the characters and its a film that keeps the viewers interest the whole way through, and the gore effects would have been second to none at the time, and still hold up reasonably well today I have to say!

Also be sure to check out our reviews on Night of the Living Dead and Day of the Dead

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HOUSE (1986)

One of the cooler things about writing this blog is that I get to revisit movies that I saw in my adolescence and view them again them as a fully grown adult heading straight into middle age. Again this is one of those movies that I had seen but could barely remember, so it was great to refresh the old grey matter and give it another go.

It follows the story of a writer, Cobb (suffering writers block) that moves into his Aunty's house after she is found hanging in the attic. Mr. Cobb has a special attachment to the house having grown up there after the death of his mother he was raised in the house by said Aunty. It was also the scene of the dissappearance of his child and resulting breakdown in marriage. His Aunty always maintained the house was haunted, but was of course written off as a demented old bat. Of course bit by bit Cobb realizes that the old lady might have been right.

Over all a great film, well executed and the acting is great. It maintains the viewers interest from start to finish, no major plot holes either. There is some level of gore in the film but it is far from over the top meaning again it is probably cool to watch with children (say 12 yrs and up) depending on how easily scared they are. The horror effects still hold up reasonably well in my opinion but are never over the top or cheesy. The same cannot be said for the gloriously 80's fashion sense on display :) Overall a pretty cool film and defs worth a watch!

For your viewing pleasure:

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WHITE ZOMBIE

One from the golden age of horror... This film holds up remarkably well even now, an immensely watchable film that has earned its place in cult movie history. Shot in black and white and dating back to the 1930's this is probably the earliest of the zombie flicks I have seen.  No gore or special effects to speak of in this film, it has to rely soley on plot, dramatisation, musical score and acting and it comes across as a very solid film even from the point of view of a modern (well 80's horror fan) movie fan.

The plot follows a young man Neil who is moving up in the world and his soon to be wife Madeline on the island of Haiti, where upon arrival they are greeted by stories of the undead roaming the island at night and working in the sugar mills (Good to see someone smart enough to put those zombies to work... think of all that free labour going to waste in modern zombie films) ... What I like about the story line in this film is that it sits closer to the historical origin of zombies than the "Night of the living dead" style zombies which is a pleasant change. Madeline has also unfortunately attracted the attention of Charles a wealthy businessman from the island who decides that since he can't have her he will turn her into a zombie.

Some kind soul has been kind enough to upload a remastered version of this classic! check it out below!

History has not been kind to this film as it has gone widely unnoticed, in fact it is  but more widely known for being the inspiration behind the name of Rob Zombies first band "White Zombie" than it is for being an actual film... but do yourself a favour and check it out :)

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