Final Women

I had been trying to get my hands on Fade to Black for years before it finally popped up free on Amazon Prime. I was so excited! But did it meet my expectations when I finally sat down and watched it? Actually, for the most part, yes. Fade to Black is a lot more character driven than I expected. It's also fairly competently shot and well acted. Clearly, a lot more thought was put into it than I first expected. I also couldn't help but love the main character, Eric (Dennis Christopher, adult Eddie Waspbrak from the original It), a geeky film buff, who in today's world would have a popular blog and possibly even a career in Hollywood (his makeup effects are phenomenal). However, in 1980, he's just a lonely, bullied nerd, who seems to provoke outrageously angry reactions from almost everyone he encounters. Yes, he does eventually turn serial killer, but it's still hard not to feel sorry for the poor guy, who's been kicked around by nearly everyone in his li...

I woke up this morning to the tragic news that Dick Miller had passed away two days ago on January 30. Dick Miller was one of those wonderful character actors. Rarely a leading man, he excelled in smaller but crucial roles and elevated each and every movie he was in. He had particular success in the horror genre, and frequently worked alongside genre stalwart, Joe Dante. He will be greatly missed. Some of his most memorable roles include: Gremlins (1984) Chopping Mall (1986) Rock 'n' Roll High School  (1979) He also blessed us with appearances in Premature Burial, A Bucket of Blood (a rare starring role), Piranha, The Howling, Night of the Creeps, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and Burying the Ex, along with many other genre projects. In 2014, a documentary about his life and work titled That Guy Dick Miller   was released, and it is available for free with Amazon Prime. If you're fan, you can't miss this stellar documentary abo...

Blood Theater The oldest movie reviewed here today is 1984's Blood Theatre, which involves a former theatre where a mass murder occurred being revamped years later into a cheap-o cinema. Quite frankly, I really should have reviewed this film right after I watched it, because just a few days on, I've already forgotten most of it. I could honestly tell you very little about the main plot at this point; I'm even kinda vague on how it ended. I do clearly remember one sub plot of the film though, as it involved Mary Woronov (Terrorvision), genre goddess and Andy Warhol Factory member. She plays the assistant to the owner of the movie theater chain that the titular "Blood Theater" is being added to. She's also the only competent actor in the entire movie. Her scenes are a delight to watch, and she provides the film with its few intentionally hilarious moments. If you like low-budget trash from the 80's (like-me), go ahead and check this one out in full. Otherw...

I'd actually seen this one before.  Filmed in 2006, but tangled up in distribution hell in the U.S. until 2013, I was lucky enough to come across this in a video store in 2009 while living in England. I was incredibly excited to get my hands on it back then, as it had already developed a reputation as a bit of a rare treasure among horror film fans. I remember walking away from my first viewing satisfied, but admittedly could only vaguely recall the film's events by the time I noticed it was on Netflix streaming recently and decided to give it another go. Amber Heard is superb as the beautiful, virginal Mandy Lane, whom all of the boys want a shot with. Formerly unpopular, Mandy apparently blossomed over the summer before her junior year of high school. Having attracted the attention of the popular crowd, by the end of the year Mandy seems to have distanced herself from her nerdy former best friend after his prank resulted in the death of one of her admirers months before. Fo...

The Signalman The 1976 episode of A Ghost Story for Christmas was the first episode not to be based on the work of M.R. James. Instead, The Signalman is based on Charles Dickens's most famous ghost story outside of A Christmas Carol. The episode stars Bernard Lloyd (who would appear as Marley's Ghost in the 1999 A Christmas Carol adaptation with Patrick Stewart as Scrooge) as a traveler who befriends a railway signalman, played by beloved character actor Denholm Elliott (Marcus Brody from the Indiana Jones movies). The signalman tells Lloyd's character (simply billed as "The Traveler" in the credits) about a recurring apparition that appears every time a tragedy is about to occur on the railway. The first time he saw the apparition, a nasty wreck occurred in the nearby tunnel, costing many people their lives. The second time, a woman soon leapt to her death from the train right in front of him. The signalman is concerned because the apparition has recently begu...