Stranger from Venus

This is a 1954 British science fiction, directed by Burt Balaban. The stars includes Patricia Neal, Helmut Dantine and Derek Bond.

A UFO is seen when a woman suffers a road accident. She disappeared, only to return home later fully recovered and healthy. People with ailments, wounds and illnesses are healed by a man who doesn't have a name but says he comes from planet Venus. All is very difficult to accept, even when he told everyone to cease using dangerous nuclear weapons. 

The story is easy to follow but the layout itself, from the props to the police uniforms, are a mish mash. Some believe the film is set in a fictional country. According to the film, Venus is "millions of light years from Earth" but in actual fact, Venus is just 162 million miles, which is shorter than a single light year. So Venus is only 3 light minutes away from Earth.

The film is rather slow and dry, with a drop of lemon! It's 3/10 for ratings from me and I give this a yellow strawberry.

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Eye of the Cat

This is a 1969 mystery thriller and horror. Directed by David Lowell Rich and stars include Michael Sarrazin, Gayle Hunnicutt and Eleanor Parker. 

A greedy man plots to steal from his sick wealthy aunt. He's got a phobia of cats and discovers that she keeps many of them. His girlfriend is also his sidekick who wants a stake in the assets that he intends to rob. More unravels strangeness when the cats are sent away and the aunt is changing her will. 

There are different versions of the film. One is released for tv and shows less scary gruesome scenes, making this all about a character turning mad while the original horror version keeps in dozens of cats with a gory paranormal twist. This is also called "The Cannibal Cats", for it shows cats eating other cats. 

Blood Strawberry rating for this 6/10. Did I enjoy it? Yes. A beautiful looking film with a mansion that looked like a giant dolls house with a glamourous aunt in a wheelchair, who then sleeps in a bubble at night and keeps hundreds of moggies. A crazy cat lady film made for horror.  This film gets a chocolate strawberry for eye candy.

 

Dark Places (1974)

 "Dark Places" is a 1974 horror directed by Don Sharp, and starring Christopher Lee, Joan Collins and Herbert Lom. 

Edward Foster is given a large house by a dead elderly patient, who informs him about a secret stash of money, which was not revealed where it was. The house is rundown and haunted, while a story about the previous owner Mr Marr and his missing family tie in with ghosts. He's visited by a doctor and his sister, who are eager to locate the hidden money before the new owner does. 

A collapsed floor, cobwebs, bats inside the walls and creepy voices make a really old spooky house. Some of the story runs slow and thick, while there are so few characters in the film. The setting of the house was filmed at an old asylum. It's quite a sad film and also a bit spooky in places. The dead are hiding and they really don't want Mr Foster in there!

I give this a dusty spooky white strawberry 

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M3gan

 

M3gan is a 2022 sci-fi thriller with some horror elements. Directed by Gerard Johnstone, and stars includes Allison Williams, Violet McGraw and Ronnie Chieng. 

A robotics enthusiast and engineer is working on a mass produced talking pet toy, which was given to her niece. After the family tragedy, she's become the prime carer and guardian of her now orphaned niece. To help her niece cope, she makes a very complex doll that looks like a human girl and even talks like one. This creation is highly advanced and made out of compassion, given the name M3gab. 

M3gan is a story that has been done before and is very familiar, when a doll has a life of its own, and seeks to punish everyone. Most of the scary parts were edited out and smoothed over, giving it a family friendly viewing. 

I rate this a techno strawberry.

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