The Night Digger

"The Night Digger" (aka "The Road Builder") (1971) starring Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay and Jean Anderson and written by Roald Dahl is a horror, thriller, melodrama about a daughter caring for her elderly mother in a decaying mansion who are joined by a young stranger on a motorcycle.

Maura Prince (Neal) is an aging woman who is stuck in a life caring for her elderly and blind mother, Edith Prince (Brown).  They live in an old mansion in the English countryside that according to Maura is 'going to pot'. Maura has been offered a full time job at the hospital where she volunteers but her mother is a master manipulator who gets her to remain at home with her.

Needing to make some extra money, Edith was considering a friend's nephew as a tenant but that has unexpectedly fallen through.  Out of the blue, a handsome young stranger, Billy Jarvis (Clay) shows up at their doorstep saying he has been referred by the friend and offers to do work around the house in lieu of room and board.  Edith falls for the young man's charms and she almost convinces herself, as well as her busy body church friends, that Billy is her great nephew.

Billy moves in and soon is fixing up the old house and gardens and even winning over the reluctant Maura who didn't want him there in the first place.  As things get better and better at home, Billy starts getting bouts of depression and heads off on his motorcycle in the middle of the night with murderous results.  Apparently, the Night Digger is a serial killer that has been killing young women in the area and getting rid of the bodies. How will this turn of events affect the Prince mother and daughter?

"The Night Digger" is an excellent psychological love story filled with eerie Gothic atmosphere.     Patricia Neal is superb as the long suffering daughter of an overwhelming mother, who just wants to break out and live her own life before it's too late.  The action is rather slow but the decaying mansion and estate as well as the talented cast of characters and the situations they encounter, make this gem of a film very enjoyable to watch.

Children of the Stones

"Children of the Stones" (1977) starring Gareth Thomas, Veronica Strong, Peter Demin, Ruth Dunning, Iain Cuthbertson and Katharine Levy is a British serial that takes place in a sinister village and is geared toward children but fun to watch at all ages.

Scientist Adam Brake (Thomas) and his son Matthew (Demin) are moving to the sleepy English village of Milbury for three months to do some research on the magnetic forces surrounding the local stone formations that circle the village.  They soon meet Margaret (Strong) and her daughter Sandra (Levy) who also have recently moved to town and start telling them about the weirdness going on in the village.

Milbury is full of happy people.  They say "Happy Day" to each other instead of good afternoon and everything is always well.  They also like to go to the stone circle, hold hands and chant every once in a while in the middle of the night.  What are they all up to?  Well, our group of adults and children work together and try to solve the mystery before it's too late because, you see, all the newcomers eventually turn into a "Happy Dayer".  Not only that, but Matthew and his father are somewhat receptive to the psychic energies and visions coming off the stones.

"Children of the Stones" is a world where the children are smart and the parents actually listen to them.  The village is full of strange characters that just want our characters to be part of the town and join with them and mysteries galore.  A very fun adventure/mystery show with a sinister atmosphere throughout!

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.