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Saturday, 17 September 2022

Theatre of Death


This is a 1967 horror film directed by Samuel Gallu. "Theatre of Death" stars includes Christopher Lee, Julian Glover and Lelia Goldoni. A police surgeon visits a strange theatre with brutal plays because he's meeting his girlfriend, one of the actresses there. The theatre's director is played by Christopher Lee, and is hypnotic and dangerous. Two friends have to act out in a horrific scene about a witch execution in front of a party. Meanwhile there's been a lot of unusual deaths with the victims drained of blood.

Gorgeous sets and very beautiful indoor theatre with secret passages and rooms with cobwebs, old props,  a creepy portrait and a workable guillotine. There is a fortune teller, who gives a reading to one of the characters and some other crazy stuff. This is kind of a vampire themed film set in modern France at the Theatre du Grand Guignol, meaning "big puppet". There are some twists, broken plots and plenty of atmosphere. This gets a 6/10.

Blood Strawberry     

Sunday, 11 September 2022

The Unearthly (1957)


"The Unearthly" is a 1957 horror sci-fi film directed by Boris Petroff, and the stars include John Carradine, Myron Healey, Tor Johnson and Allison Hayes. 

A mad scientist has been doing secret experiments on patients in his hospital to find a formula of eternal youth. His methods have resulted in monsters and some fatalities. People that just arrived to the hospital are in the dark about what's really going on. All of his patients have no family, so it comes as a shock when one of the patients has a relative asking about them.

One of the doctor's assistants is a character named Lobo, played by Tor Johnson, who also appeared as Lobo in films "Bride of the Monster" and "Night of the Ghouls." One of the mutants is played by Karl Johnson, the son of Tor Johnson. The film was made in six days. Certain elements of the film were rather creepy and it had some horrible surprises. I rate this an okay 5/10.

Blood Strawberry

Sunday, 4 September 2022

Malenka, the Vampire's Niece


"Malenka, the Vampire's Niece" is a 1969 horror film directed by Amando de Ossorio, and the cast includes Anita Ekberg, Gianni Medici and John Hamilton. 

Sylvia is a glamorous model from Rome who visits her ancestral castle for the first time. She finds that her strict uncle is the Count living in the creepy castle with his loyal servants. There's a portrait of a beautiful woman named Malenka who was burned as a witch. Sylvia learns that she's under a curse and has got to remain in the castle so she writes to her boyfriend, who is a doctor. Worried, the doctor goes looking for her but finds the local villagers scared and putting up garlic. However, a girl also dies mysteriously and then she returns from the dead.

Some of the story doesn't make much sense because of changes made to the film. There's a different ending to the English release. It's a very gothic and atmospheric film with lovely sets. There are pretty awesome scary scenes like when the vampire girl crawls out of her grave. There are two alternative types of this film!!! The English language version of the film makes it a vampire story while the Spanish version is psychological story. This film is also titled "Fangs of the Living Dead" elsewhere. I rate this a 7/10 because it's a beautiful film.

Blood Strawberry


Thursday, 1 September 2022

The Dungeon of Harrow


This is a horror flick made in 1962, directed by Pat Boynette and the stars include Russ Harvey and William McNulty. It's the 19th century and Aaron Fallon and the captain are shipwrecked on a remote island. They find that a woman was savagely killed by dogs near a remote castle on the island. Count Lorente de Sade lives there with his hidden zombie wife and brainwashed servants. He keeps the shipwrecked survivors as his prisoners in the creepy castle.

The film has a number of shocks including scenes of torture. There are some twists in this low budget gothic film, which is quite atmospheric. Despite being set on an isolated island castle, which has a late summer feel, this was filmed in a studio in Texas. The director Pat Boynette created art for the movie's poster and then he went onto work in comic books. I rate this film a gruesome 6/10

Blood Strawberry