Knife Edge

"Knife Edge" (2009) is a horror / thriller starring: Hugh Bonneville, Natalie Press and Matthieu Boujenah that takes place in a large country mansion in England.

Emma is a successful New York stock broker who has a five year old son Thomas.  She is also recently married to Henri who has whisked her back to her home country of Great Britain and surprised her with the purchase of a huge country mansion and a lush estate.  Their new life seemed perfect until things start unraveling in the new house.

It turns out the house has a terrible secret in its past.  Emma, who has always been able to see glimpses of the past, believes she is now getting visions of murder in the past at the house.  She starts to hear a child calling for her from upstairs and it's not Thomas!  Thomas has an imaginary new friend named Tobias and carries an old doll around that Tobias gave him. Emma tries to share these visions and her fears about the house with Henri but he is too caught up in his own financial troubles to be of any support.

This turned out to be a great thriller.  Filled with spooky atmosphere that an old English Mansion with overgrown estate can provide.  An eerie tree that keeps haunting Emma in her dreams also seems to be a part of the secret.  Lots of scary moments, suspense and an interesting story keeps you guessing until the end.

Cat People

"Cat People" (1982) starring Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard is a remake of the 1942 classic of the same name.

Irena Gallier (Kinski) is invited to New Orleans by her long lost brother Paul Gallier (McDowell).  Shortly after arriving at his home, he disappears because he has turned into a black leopard, been on a killing spree and been captured by Oliver Yates (Heard), the curator at the local zoo.  Irena doesn't know any of this and she doesn't know what her family legacy is.  She happens upon her brother at the zoo and Oliver becomes obsessed with her and offers her a job there.

Little by little, it starts to become clear to Irena, that she will turn into a cat if she has sex with anyone.  The only way to turn back to human form is to kill.

This remake is very well done. Kinski is wonderful as the naive Irena being emotionally overpowered by her domineering brother.  There's even a scary swimming pool scene - a homage to the classic scene from the original!  This remake is bloodier than its original but only in a couple scenes and definitely more erotic.  There's also hypnotic music by David Bowie.  Overall a very good remake of a classic horror movie.

Horror of Dracula

"Horror of Dracula" (1968) starring  Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, John Van Eyssen, Michael Gough is a Hammer Films version of the classic Dracula story.

It is the year 1885 and Jonathan Harker (Van Eyssen) arrives at Count Dracula's (Lee) castle in order to work as the Count's librarian.  After being bitten by one of Dracula's vampire women, he disappears.  Dr. Van Helsing (Cushing) arrives to the castle later in order to find the missing Harker.  He is given Harker's journal from some fearful townsfolk and soon finds himself involved with all the horrible goings on at the castle.

Christopher Lee does a superb job playing the titular role of Dracula.  Hammer Films excelled at these Dracula films and you will find it all here: creepy castle, terrified townspeople, sexy vampire women, scary atmosphere and the dapper but dangerous Dracula.  

    

13 Ghosts

"13 Ghosts" (1960) starring Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp, Donald Woods and Margaret Hamilton is a William Castle horror movie that invites the audience to use their ghost viewers to see the ghosts on screen.

The Zorba family, which is in financial dire straights, inherits a haunted house from their reclusive uncle but they must live in it in order to keep it.  The house contains the deceased uncle's collection of ghosts which he was able to see with his special ghost goggles and process for capturing them.  

Soon after moving into the haunted house, the family is playing with a ouija board that they find and they get contacted by their first spirit.  At certain times throughout the movie, the audience is instructed to put on the ghost viewers and the screen turns a bluish color while the ghosts show up in a translucent red color.  The housekeeper is played by Margaret Hamilton and she tries to help the family discover the secrets of the house and the ghosts within.

This is a fun old haunted house movie filled with ghosts, an old mansion and a "Leave it to Beaver" style family that tries to survive the terrors they encounter.

Dead Man's Island

"Dead Man's Island" (1996) is a mystery/thriller made for TV film that takes place on a remote island, starring: Barbara Eden, William Shatner, Roddy McDowall, Morgan Fairchild, Traci Lords, David Faustino, Christopher Atkins, Olivia Hussey, Jameson Parker, Christopher Cazenove and Don Most.

Chase Prescott (Shatner) is a rich man who owns many companies and a beautiful mansion on a remote, private island.  He invites a cast of characters from his businesses, friends and family to the island retreat because he thinks one of them is trying to kill him for his fortune.  He has also invited an old friend, Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins (but everyone calls her Henrie O.) (Eden), who is a renowned journalist so she can investigate these suspects and let him know who the would be killer is.

The list of suspects include: Valerie St. Vincent (Fairchild) who wants Chase to back her on a Broadway play; Trevor Dunnaway (McDowall), Prescott's attorney; Miranda Prescott (Lords), Chase's beautiful young wife; Burton Andrews (Most), Chase's private secretary; Lyle Stedman (Parker), Senior Vice President at Chase's company; sons Haskell (Faustino) & Roger (Atkins); and housemaid Rosie (Hussey) and butler Milo (Cazenove).

Barbara Eden does a good job as Henrie O (although her Texas accent is less than convincing) - asking all the guests the uncomfortable questions everyone would rather not talk about.  Not only do we have a possible murder on the island - there is also an approaching storm to add to the suspensful atmosphere and drama!  "Dead Man's Island" is a fun murder mystery with an all star cast of characters.

The Beast Must Die

"The Beast Must Die" (1974) starring Calvin Lockhart, Peter Cushing, Marlene Clark, Charles Gray, Anton Diffring, Ciaran Madden, Tom Chadbon and Michael Gambon is a fun horror movie from Amicus Studios where the viewer gets to decide who the werewolf is.

Tom Newcliffe (Calvin Lockhart) is a rich businessman / hunter who wants to hunt the biggest and rarest game there is - a werewolf.  He has done the research and narrowed it down to the following guests who he has invited to his remote mansion and estate and accuses one of them of being the werewolf:

• Arthur Bennington (Charles Gray) - the diplomat
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• Jan Jarmokowski (Michael Gambon) - world renowned pianist
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• Davina Gilmore (Ciaran Madden) - student & wife of Jan and old friend of Tom's wife
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• Caroline Newcliffe (Marlene Clark) - Tom's wife
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• Paul Foote (Tom Chadbon) - an artist who had been in prison
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• Prof. Lundgren (Peter Cushing) - an archaeologist and a werewolf expert
• 

Tom has brought his guests together on the night of the full moon and has rigged his entire estate with cameras, microphones and other surveillance systems to help him hunt the werewolf.  

Things don't go as smoothly for him as planned and the werewolf gets the upper hand even with all the precautions.  One by one, the guests and Tom's associates are getting killed off.  Will Tom accomplish his deadly task?

This is a very enjoyable werewolf movie from the 70s.  Everything about it screams the 70s, including the clothing, decor and the fantastically funky music!  The cheesy "Werewolf Break" which comes after all the clues have been given and allows the audience to choose which person they think is the werewolf.  "The Beast Must Die" is a must see for fans of old horror movies!

Who is the Werewolf?

The Brotherhood of Satan

"The Brotherhood of Satan" (1971) starring Strother Martin, L.Q. Jones, Charles Bateman is an excellent horror movie about a family trapped in a desert town with a bunch of old Satan worshipers.

The family of Ben (Charles Bateman), his girlfriend Nicky (Ahna Capri) and his daughter KT (Geri Reischl) are on their way to Grandma's house when they witness a terrible car accident.  They drive to the nearest town of Hillsboro and they are mobbed by the local townsfolk and quickly flee in their car.  However, they don't get far until their car breaks down and they have to return to Hillsboro.

They discover the town has been cut off from the outside by unknown forces for over a week and one by one their children have gone missing.  Ben joins with the Sheriff (L.Q. Jones, also the movie's writer and producer), the local doctor and priest to determine what is happening to all the children.

While this is occurring, the film also shifts to the local witch's coven which worships Satan and is gathering the children for its sinister plans.  Who in the small town is the leader of the coven?  You soon find out and you get a good look at the elderly denizens of Hillsboro who will do the unspeakable to stay alive and young.

"The Brotherhood of Satan" is a surprisingly good horror flick.  It is visually well filmed and the idea of a town being cut off from the rest of the world creates a sinister sort of claustrophobia.  There are some extremely creepy scenes in this movie, especially the birthday party scene where the children are catered to by unseen figures in black robes.  I highly recommend that you find and watch this film!