The Terror (1963)

"The Terror" is a 1963 horror mystery directed by Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola and Jack Hale. The stars Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson and Sandra Knight.

A French soldier called Lt. Andre Duvalier is lost but there's a woman at the beach who disappears. He finds her again and she tells him that her name is Helene. A strange  bird attacks him and he's woken up in a dwelling of an old woman who nursed him. What's more strange is that her own pet bird is the same one that attacked him, and it's also called Helene. Andre recovers and is eager to find out who the mysterious Helene is. 

This film has plenty of gothic atmosphere and lovely scenery of the coast and woods. The sets are beautiful and spooky. There is a dreamy quality to the film also in many scenes such as when the old woman mesmerises Helene with a colourful light. There is some gore and shocks that seem to be quite nasty for its time. I rate this quaint little horror flick a nice 7/10.

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Bed Rest

 This is a 2022 horror film made for TV. It was directed and written by Lori Evans Taylor. The cast includes Melissa Barrera, Guy Burnet and Edie Inksetter. 

"Fear never rests" is the quote from this film. A couple move into a house while its being renovated, and among the dirt is discovered a bracelet, which has interesting initials. Julie is pregnant and both she and her husband are still grieving the loss of their first child who was stillborn. Certain strange things go on in the new house, including whispering voices and footsteps. They set up a baby monitor in the nursery and their pet cat is hissing at things which are not there, while the mystery of the place deepens.

This appears like a ghost story with some scares and very gothic atmosphere, including the thunderstorm. The house that they move into looks the part with a scary theme to it. It covers mental illness such as post natal psychosis. As this is made for television, it's going to be quite tame and also nice. This wasn't a bad film, in fact it was very entertaining and almost like a dark fairy tale. 

I rate this a 7/10.

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Sinbad and the Minotaur

Sinbad and the Minotaur is a 2011 fantasy TV movie directed by Karl Zwicky. It includes stars such as Manu Bennett, Steven Grives, Holly Brisley and Jared Robinson.

Sinbad the famous sailor has found a long lost scroll with details of a golden stone head that was once part of a giant statue, the Colossus of Rhodes. He runs into an evil sorcerer who makes women zombie like slaves. Sinbad rescues a princess and goes off to his ship, in search of the gold, but its located on a mysterious island with the legendary Minotaur. 

This fun magical adventure has got monsters, gore and even funny lines, but unfairly got too much negative feedback. For those who like the fantasy and horror genre, this is pretty awesome viewing, This girl wasn't disappointed. I rate this little trip a 6/10.

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Yeti (2008)

 

Yeti, also called Yeti: Curse of the Snow Demon, is a 2008 horror film directed by Paul Ziller. The cast includes Marc Menard and Carly Pope. 

A football team is travelling to Japan, then they cross the Himalayas during a storm that causes them to crash. Few survive the crash, but they've got no equipment, recourses or even enough food. As they wait for rescue to come, two of them go for a walk through the freezing temperatures to locate a radio that fell during the crash. The pair encounter the legendary Yeti monster, which is a predator and man-eater. Meanwhile, the others waiting back at the wreckage are running out of matches and food. 

A film about survival instincts and monsters, which is a very cool combination. The original title was going to be "Raksha: Curse of the Snow Demon" as the term Raksha is from Tibetan Sanskrit that means "demon". The football team is from an unnamed college but their logo features a bear and they're called Grizzlies. A shame that the survivors didn't channel the bear to properly get by! Cannibalism, gore and intense fighting is found here in this low budget film. Some of the characters are colourful, while others are annoying. The main villain is a human, that keeps a secret stash of chocolate who really gets what's coming to him. 

A silly movie chock full of ice holes. I rate it a 4/10.

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