Windows, 1980 - ★★

Windows, 1980 - ★★
REVIEWED

"Open wide... arggghhoooOOOOOO"

Andrea (Elizabeth Ashley)

One hit blunder from legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis. In 1980 for the first and last time he stepped from behind the camera to direct Windows, a dubious low rent Rear Window plagiarizing thriller with lesbians.

Several of my all time favorite movies (ie Night of the Hunter, Electra Glide in Blue & The War Zone) are by single movie directors. Sadly the same can't be said for Windows, no wonder its been pretty much sat untouched gathering dust in Warners vaults all these years. Its the sort of cheesy thriller you'd expect from some straight to betamax company, I only wish MST3K's Joel or Mike would have riffed it.
[PRFR: Personal Reasons For Remembering]
The only lesbian movie I've ever seen I wanted the woman (slightly aged Elizabeth Ashley) to keep clothed. Ohh and the rapist for hire.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Modus Anomali, 2012 - ★★

Modus Anomali, 2012 - ★★
REVIEWED

"Go back to the beginning"

Scratched into a corpses skin

'Modus Anomali' is an horror movie based in real time. It revolves around a man waking up in a woods suffering amnesia, while roaming around the area he finds little trinkets and notices helping him fill in his blank memories. Turns out he'd been on a family holiday in the area and is now in a race against time to save his two boys.

Pointless, ball-less Indonesian horror/thriller, that lacks its own identity. It feels like a substandard rip-off of several US horror movies. Oddly the thing it reminded me most of was the 360 game Alan Wake, only without the cool twilight zone tv stuff, mixed with that Coldplay video that was made in reverse. Filmmaker Joko Anwar who managed to score a bit of a cult hit in the west with his earlier movie Pintu Terlarang, no doubt got a cash up front distribution deal to make anything he pleased (and thats what he delivered, something to easily please English speaking viewers). Western horror fans don't want this, we want flying heads and demonic snake princesses, like Indonesia used to give us. Ohh and this letterboxd poster is far better than the grubby dvd cover image.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Crawlspace, 2013 - ★★

Crawlspace, 2013 - ★★
REVIEWED

"Enough of the fucking bio-babble."

Romeo (Ditch Davey)

Muddled horror tinged slice of claustrophobic science fiction. Set in a futuristic military bases passage sub system. A special task force is sent in to shut down a wayward military experiment with thought implanting and telepaths.

Dull substandard trite, that plays like a poor mans cross between Mimic and Scanners (theres even an head exploding). Acting is OK, the two central characters played by Amber Clayton and Ditch Davey are good, a couple of the other actors performances don't fair so good. The creature and set design was also pretty good, infact visually it looked kinda similar to an episode of Doctor Who (though nowhere near as entertaining).

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Zombeer, 2008 - ★★

Zombeer, 2008 - ★★
REVIEWED

I viewed this as part of the "Ultimate Zombie Feast - DVD Collection". An ill, drunken brewery worker falls into a vault of beer. He decays, corrupting its source, finally turning those who drink it into flesh eating zombies.

11 minute zombie short, pretty mediocre. Similair idea to Street Trash's viper, only causing zombies instead of body melting.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Plagued, 2009 - ★★

Plagued, 2009 - ★★
REVIEWED

I viewed this as part of the "Ultimate Zombie Feast - DVD Collection". A man sits on a docks reminising on mankinds struggle with a zombie plague.

Routine 16 minute zombie short, thats a more serious modern '28 Days Later' urban feeling take on the genre.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Not Even Death, 2009 - ★★

Not Even Death, 2009 - ★★
REVIEWED

I viewed this as part of the "Ultimate Zombie Feast - DVD Collection". A man keeps his zombified wife chained up in his cellar, while feeding her meat he mentions its their daughters birthday today and she longs to see her mother again.

Standard 5 minute zombie short, the shortest lengh film of the collection, nice enough makeup but nothing else really jumps out.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Fear Of The Living Dead, 2009 - ★★

Fear Of The Living Dead, 2009 - ★★
REVIEWED

I viewed this as part of the "Ultimate Zombie Feast - DVD Collection". A video zombie survival diary. Following our heroine over several days after the worlds gone to shit due to a zombie virus.

Below average 16 minute zombie short. I was bored shitless during this entry.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Nightflyers, 1987 - ★★

Gates of Heaven, 1978 - ★★★½

"They opened up her head... and took her gifts away"

Jon the ships empath (Jon Winderman)

Badly conceived b-grade adaptation of George R.R. Martin's (Game of Thrones) well regarded science fiction novel (which I'll be honest haven't read or heard of). It follows a space ships hazardous attempt to find a mythical space entity known as Volcryn. Only the ships onboard AI mainframe goes berserk and threatens to destroy their intended mission.

While not the worst science fiction movie ever made, its script is severally incoherent at times. The actings below par and the synthesizer music is abysmal. Its a real shame because theres brief moments the plot threatens to break through and turn it into a worthwhile movie. Visually its not so bad, the digital FX work is primitive but the lighting, sets and prop design are great for its budget. Its shocking how even crappy 80's spacecraft models look better than so much of todays CGI.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Dancing Outlaw II: Jesco Goes to Hollywood, 1999 - ★★

Viewed as part of my "Beware the Docs of March Marathon 1". Brief sequel to Jesco Whites original Dancing Outlaw. It plays more like an appendix to the first documentary. Close to 10 years since we last seen him, Jesco gets invited to Hollywood by Tom Arnold to appear on the Rosanne Show.

Pretty lame filler, sole highlight was seeing Tom Arnolds concern over Jesco having a swastika tattoo. Which he claimed to not really understand just that he got it when he was wasted and that he knew it was a German symbol. John Goodman seemed a genuinely nice bloke.

Originally taken from Letterboxd

Deadtime Stories Vol. 2 (2010)

Deadtime Stories Vol. 2 (2010)
aka: George A. Romero Presents Deadtime Stories Vol. 2
Director: Matt Walsh (Gorge), Jeff Monahan (Sabbath Hill), Michael Fisha (Dust)
Writer: Jeff Monahan
Country: USA Runtime: 102 min Soundtrack: Kerri Fabian, Matthew Tait
Cast: George A. Romero (Host), Nick Mancuso, Amy Marsalis, Jeff Monahan
Anthology horror collection.

#1 The Gorge: Three friends get caved in while out exploring a gorge, after 27 days of eating only bats and rats, the two healthier members eat their dying friend. After being found they continue to crave human flesh.

#2 Sabbath Hill: A married teacher is haunted by a pupil, who commited suicide after he had an affair and got her pregnant.

#3 Dust: To help his terminally ill wife, a security guard steals a vial of dust from work, thats thought to be a potential cure for cancer. At first she seems to be cured, only things don't work as he'd hoped, and she becomes addicted to the dust.

Abysmally bad, unimaginative trilogy of tales, for the life me I wonder why Romero got involved. The first tale is a poor mans Descent rip off, seconds a flat morality tale about being haunted by guilt, the thirds a laughable 'how far can a man go to protect that which he loves' featuring moon dust and zombies. Highlight of the whole thing is the cleavage of actress Amanda Frost (who plays pregnant pupil and suicide victim Allison Knowles) , its just a shame we never actually see her topless. The gores amatuer the tension is none existant and theres zero humour throughout the entire duration, at least the worst troma offering, has gags this has nothing. I urge fans to avoid it at all costs, and urge Romero to use his name for something more worthy (which would be absoultly anything than more volumes of this garbage).

Themes Included: Undead ● Dead ● Sick Teacher

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 3½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 3]
[Gorequota 4/10]
[Boobquota 0/10]

Ghost Stories: Graveyard Thriller (1986)

Ghost Stories: Graveyard Thriller (1986)
Director: Lynn Silver
Writers: Ralph Lucas, Sandra McLees
Country: USA Runtime: 56 min Soundtrack: Unknown
Cast: Bob Jenkins, Ralph Lucas, Laura Kay
A collection of eerie tales featuring master storytellers presenting classic and original ghost stories far too scary for television.

Five spoken word stories, set in Tuesday Hill Boneyard and introduced by the graveyard creeper (Bob Jenkins).

The first "Where Have You Been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy" is written and narrated by Ralph Lucas, its the tale of a woman who one night has a nightmare about being raped by rats, only her nightmare continues as she eventually gives birth to a cross breed boy she calls Billy.

The second yarn is Sandra McLees "Mr. Fox" narrated by Laura Kay, its the tale about a woman whose never had interest from men. she eventually finds someone whose interested in her Mr Fox, only he turns out to be a lady killer.

Next up is Sandra McLees narrating her own story "Buried Alive" its the tale of a woman who has a fight with her husband, when she wakes up everyone thinks shes dead, she ends up being buried alive. Only to be dug up by the towns drunk, so he can steal her jewelry, out of revenge she pretends to haunt her husband.

Bob Jenkins tells the forth story "Hunting Werewolves for Uncle Albert" a silly tall tale about a young man who was sent out to hunt a werewolf by his uncle, only he encounters various other monsters including a space monster and Frankenstein monster.

The final tale is Sheri Emonds "Reunion" told by Maria Hayden, its the tale of a female witch being reunited with her dead former husband Jack.

Shot on video yawn fest, that might be a total hoot if your extremely stoned and into amateur stage productions. Filmed spoken word rarely works, off the top of my head I can only remember BBC's Jackanory doing it justice, but that had names like Jeremy Irons and Helena Bonham Carter behind it, you can tell the actors here, who no doubt had good intentions of bringing these stories to life, have not had much experience outside of a their bedrooms mirror. It doesn't help either that the stories are unoriginal rubbish. Why it was ever released in the first place is shocking, and why I sat through it, is quite frankly, beyond me.

Themes Included: ___ ● Spoken Word ● Amateur Dramatics

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 3 out of 10 Good]
[Deathcount 0]
[Gorequota 0/10]
[Boobquota 0/10]

Lost! (1986)

Lost! (1986)
Director: Peter Rowe
Writers: Peter Rowe, Thomas Thompson
Country: Canada Runtime: 95 min Soundtrack: Micky Erbe, Maribeth Solomon
Cast: Kenneth Welsh, Helen Shaver, Michael Hogan
Bob and his wife Linda accompany his brother Jim on a sailing cruise to Costa Rica, where Jim will start as a missionary. In a terrible storm their boat flips over. Jim believes the accident was a sign from god and throws away their distilling apparatus and food - "You shall not interfere with god's will". However nobody knows they're lost, so no one searches them for weeks.Bob and his wife Linda accompany his brother Jim on a sailing cruise to Costa Rica, where Jim will start as a missionary. In a terrible storm their boat flips over. Jim believes the accident was a sign from god and throws away their distilling apparatus and food - "You shall not interfere with god's will". However nobody knows they're lost, so no one searches them for weeks.

Bob Fisher and his wife Linda join his crazy Christian brother Jim on a boat trip to Costa Rica where he's to become a missionary. During an harsh storm their boat capsizes forcing the three to try and survive on limited rations until they're rescued.

Pretty dull Canadian TV film based on a true story. After 72 days being capsized, eventually the boat named the Triton was found 1000 miles off the US coast. Bob was the only survivor, Linda died during the trip and Jim died weeks later in hospital.

Themes Included: True Story ● Survival ● Crazy Christian

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4 out of 10]
[Deathcount 1]

Terror And Black Lace (1985)

Terror And Black Lace (1985)
aka: Terror y encajes negros
Director: Luis Alcoriza
Writers: Ramón Obón, Luis Alcoriza
Country: Mexico Runtime: 97 min Soundtrack: Various
Cast: Gonzalo Vega, Maribel Guardia, Claudio Obregón, CesarJaime Moreno
A woman is terrorized by a maniac in her own apartment building while wearing only black lingere.

Unfairly marketed as a sexy Mexican version of a giallo/thriller, its more domestic drama that just so happens to have an hair obsessed killer among its characters. Isabella is a bored housewife, tired of the way her husband is treating her, and the fact she feels he's imprisoned her in their apartment. While on a shopping trip against her husbands wishes she strikes up a none sexual relationship with another man. As their friendship grows she needs to decide if she wants to stick in her loveless marrage or leave. Meanwhile a man living in her appartment block is going around assualting women and stealing hair samples. On the night of Isabella's decission her crazy neighbor progresses from just beating up women to killing them, when he slaughters a maid. He then turns his attention on Isabella who needs to fight for her life

Poor attempt at a thriller, offering next to none the 'terror' of its title. For most the duration the film seems purely intent on showing us how attractive its lead actress Maribel Guardia is (even getting topless a few times). Shame then that they couldn't have made her more sexy or promiscuous. Unless your seeking a marital drama I'd avoid Terror And Black Lace at all costs.

Themes Included: Underwear ● Apartment Block ● Hair Fetish Killer

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4 out of 10]
[Deathcount 2]
[Gorequota 2/10]
[Boobquota 2/10]

Taxi Killer (1988)

Taxi Killer (1988)
Director: Stelvio Massi
Writer: Mario Gariazzo, Paola Pascolini
Country: Italy, USA Runtime: 105 min Soundtrack: Stelvio Cipriani
Cast: Catherine Hickland, Chuck Connors, Walter D'Amore, Eddie J. Fernandez
A never seen rape and revenge movie, produced by Fred Williamson.

On her first night as a taxi driver, beautiful Jenny (Catherine Hickland) picks up four young passengers who beat, rape and rob her. Unfortunately for Jenny, with the information including the phone and house number the gang stole, they continue to victimize her along with her parents. The final straw comes when Jens father (Chuck Connors) gets killed while at work. The following night Jen witnesses a violent mugging and decides enough is enough. She along with her her fellow female cab drivers form a vigilante team, hell bent on taking down the cities criminals.


Never officially released, the only available versions are 3rd generation copies taken from a pre completed workprint. Sadly the missing content includes the titles, credits, Chuck Connors death sequence and the entire Stelvio Cipriani score. What is left isn't much to shout about, the acting is emotionless more a kin to TV than feature films. The highlight for me was the scene Jen sexually lures one of the gang members to a warehouse with her friends waiting. The rape itself wasn't shown, it cuts to a blur and fades out. And theres only the hint of violence, never actually any onscreen. As racy as it gets is the odd swear word chiefly Connors calling the gang cock suckers, and a final scene when a car explodes. Its hard to judge how a finished version would have held up, but its safe to say its not in the same league as other rape revenge tales like MS.45 and Death Wish.

Themes Included: Rape Revenge ● Vigilante Taxi Drivers ● Police

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4 out of 10]
[Deathcount 5]
[Gorequota 0/10]

See No Evil (1999)

See No Evil (1999)
aka: Hasfalmetszök
Director: Zsolt Bernáth
Writer: Mark Kis-Szabo
Country: Hungary Runtime: 51 min Soundtrack: Zoltan Vegh
Cast: István Bartók, Bela Bene, Zsolt Benke
For their first job, two young hitmen have to kill the wife of a rich businessman at her Grandfather's house. Grandpa turns out to be a serial killer and the house is where he hides the bodies.

While on a stake out, two hit men tell each other tales to relieve the boredom. When they eventually find the location of their contract things get out of hand, because the dead start rising.

Hungarian amateur zombie nonsense, that from what I could make out, was trying to go for a Pulp Fiction meets Night of the Living Dead vibe. The film started extremely slow and was very wordy, I didn't have subtitles so not sure if the dialog was good or not. Some of the low rent gore towards the final was fun enough. At just under an hour it doesn't have enough action, shame the director didn't just release it as a 20 min short.

Themes Included: Fat Guy Shower ● Blooded Bath ● Graves
Old Man Zombie ● Hit Men ● Knife In Neck

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 3½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 3]
[Gorequota 4/10]
[Boobquota ½/10]

Shadow Of Illusion (1970)

Shadow Of Illusion (1970)
aka: Le Ombre Roventi, Hombre Violento
Director: Mario Caiano
Cast: William Berger, Daniela Giordano, Krista Nell
Euro thriller.

A model Gail Bland is ordered to travel to Egypt for a promotional job with a company named Isis Cosmetics. Soon after arriving she learns the company isn't real and that she's been summoned due to her likeness of a cults goddess named Isis. Thankfully Mrs Bland isn't on her own and she's helped by a man named Caleb, only there's more to her helpfull stranger than it seems.

Occult Italian thriller, that is no wonder to me that its been practically unseen for decades. The premise is good but there's too many pauses in its action and the central plot, not even the added spice of seeing Daniela Giordano and Krista Nell in a lesbian embrace adds enough to warrant viewing. I'm sure drug movie film fans will be slightly interested in the use of doped cigeretes. Which leads me to an interesting bit of trivia I'd found on fantastic thewildeye blog concerning two of the films cast William Berger and his then wife Carolyn Lobravico a short time after filming this during the night of August 4th in 1970 they was both arrested for hashish possession by the Neapolitan police, and sent to a criminal lunatic asylum. In the October, Carolyn had died of acute peritonitis brought on by hepatitis while still incarcerated, the government refused her medical treatment. Claiming they had thought her terrible pain was due to drug withdrawl, Berger was left in prison until March the following year. Really sad case that goes to prove the old adaj that celebrity life isn't all its cracked up to be. Anyhow to some it up Shadow Of Illusion could have been an interesting Wickerman type look at occult cultists, but sadly it never hits the nail on the head. I personally found it boring and would be hard pushed to truthfully recommend it, even to the most die hard European sleaze fan.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 5]
[Gorequota 2/10]

Themes Included: Pagan Cult ● Egypt ● Sacrifice

Escapes (1986)

Escapes (1986)
Director: David Steensland
Cast: Vincent Price, Todd Fulton, Jerry Grisham
An anthology of five tales of terror, each originally produced for video. The titles are "Something's Fishy," "Coffee Break," "Who's There," "Jonah's Dream," and "Think Twice."

Antholgy horror yarn featuring 6 shot on video tales introduced by horror legend Vincent Price. The first story 'Something's Fishy' is about a man fishing, he see's an apple on the floor only on eating it ends up hooked on a fishing line ending up being dragged under the water. Next is 'Coffee Break' about a lost delivery man driving through a rural area named Harmony, one of the locals recommends he stop by a local coffee shop before giving him directions. The the young delivery man ignores his recommendation and ends up driving in a continous loop on the same roads. Third story is 'Who's There' about creatures escaping from a medical lab and chasing a man jogging. The fourth story is 'Jonah's Dream' featuring an unsuccessful gold prospector getting a ufo visit. The fifth tale is 'Think Twice' following an homeless man and a magical crystal, that when activated grants him his wishes. The final tale concerns the man who's been watching the shorts and features Price himself, as a sinister video host in a reality horror prank.

Light direct to video film that contains nothing an episode of Goosebumps wouldn't show. Nonetheless its always a treat seeing Price hamming it up and giving us one of his Thriller laughs, that said it only uses him for 5 or so minutes, so was most likely done for the quick pay day. Best saved if you ever find yourself in charge of a 6 year old while its raining outside.

Cultdb Totals
[Rated 4½ out of 10]
[Deathcount 1]
[Gorequota 1/10]

Themes Included: Furry Creatures ● Horror Host ● VHS Tape
UFO ● Roads To Nowhere ● Horror Legend