The 9th Guest

This is a horror mystery film from 1934 and it was directed by Roy William Neill. The stars includes Donald Cook, Genevieve Tobin, Hardie Albright and Edward Ellis. 

Eight people are invited to a party at a penthouse suite, and they all show up wearing their finest and all feeling somewhat curious about it. No one knows who the host of the party is, and they begin eating their food and getting to know each other. It soon becomes clear that they were picked for dubious reasons. Then the radio comes on and talks directly to them, making them listen to an unfriendly voice that sends chills. 

For it's time, the film was pretty shocking and even scary. The film is loosely based on the 1930 novel The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning. The alternative name of the film is "The Ninth Guest." It was also another adaption of the play "The Ninth Guest" by Owen Davis. It's similar to Agatha Christie's 1939 novel And Then There Were None.  I rate this old elegant thrill a 6/10.

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The Legacy

 

The Legacy is a 1978 gory horror film directed by Richard Marquand. The stars includes Katherine Ross, Sam Elliot, Charles Gray and Roger Daltrey. 

An American couple, Margaret and Pete, visit England for an exciting job offer. After enjoying some time in the English countryside, they have a road accident and end up meeting a strange man who invites them over for tea. They agree to go and find that the house is a castle with interesting staff including a nurse all in white. Cats appear everywhere although things become horrific when various guests arrive. 

The house Ravenhurst used in the film belonged to Roger Daltrey, who agreed to let them film it and give him a part to play. Boyfriend and girlfriend are married in real life. The film was planning to be filmed in an abandoned hospital in the USA but they decided to keep it in England for budget reasons. Although this is a gothic horror with plenty of gorgeous decor and sets, the writer didn't want it to resemble a Hammer Horror, which really gives it a lot of charm.

Very nice scary weirdness. It gets a 9/10.

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The Attic

"Some secrets are better kept in the dark." 

The Attic is a 2007 horror film directed by Mary Lambert. The stars includes Elizabeth Moss, Catherine Mary Stewart, Jason Lewis and John Savage. 

A family moves into a house with a sinister past, and their daughter Emma becomes obsessed with seeing phantoms of her twin sister, that never existed. After a fall, Emma encounters a paramedic, who later returns in another uniform where he claims to also work some shifts as a police officer. He seems to be the friend she's wanting. When her brother appears from a trip, things get darker for the family when certain ghostly activities happen.  

There was a lot of confusion with the plot and the decline of Emma's character as she became more withdrawn and mentally unstable. Certain scenes were horrific and inappropriate, but there was a creepy atmosphere. Emma is often the damsel in distress even wearing thin nighties all of the time, and colouring her hair so that she appears different to her twin. There's a number of errors in this, but easily overlooked if you notice them. 

The film could've been a 6 but it feels like a 5/10.

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Lei Zhen Zi of the Creation Gods

 

This is a Chinese 2023 action fantasy film, directed Chen Feng. The stars includes Norman Chu, Wu Chun-Yi and Yu LI. 

A load of barbarians invade a provincial town and slaughter everyone in the village including the general and his wife. Their child Xiading manages to escape. Years later the boy has grown up and is living in a small mountain town of great myth and legends, believed to be home to a dragon. He finds himself learning of his origins through his foster father the blacksmith, while rescuing the love of his life from an evil witch who works for the cruel barbarians. 

This film uses CGI and it looks impressive, especially the magnificent dragon. There are colourful moments, interesting characters, some humour and lots of fighting. This is based on the 16th century novel "Fengshenyanyi" or "Investiture of the Gods" by Xu Zhonglin of the My Dynasty. The film is high fantasy and part of a trilogy focusing on the divine Feather People who are also dragon slayers. 

I rate this an epic score of 10/10

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The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

"The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is an epic 1958 fantasy film directed by Nathan Juran. The stars includes Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant and Richard Eyer. 

Sinbad is on his return when his ship turns to an island of mist, when it appears visible they go ashore. Only to discover it's inhabited by an enormous race of cyclops giants. They rescue a wizard, who carries a magic lamp. Things turn dark and complicated when the wizard is invited back to Sinbad's father's palace and evil magic happens. What's even more disturbing for Sinbad is when his beloved princess is turned into as small as a mouse. Then the adventure begins.

The awesome special effects by Ray Harryhausen using stop motion animation never gets old. It makes the monsters appear more frightening. This was the first type of special effects shown in a colour film. 

I rate this excellent fantasy 10/10

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