Movie Review: The Killer Shrews (1957)

Directed by Ray Kellogg

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

Macho Captain Thorne Sherman (James Best) and his black manservant “Rook” (Judge Henry Dupree) ship out to a secluded island to ferry some people to the manland. You don't get any extra points in guessing who is killed first. Once at said island, they are greeted by Dr. Marlowe Craigis (Baruch Lumet) his Swedish daughter Ann (Ingrid Goude), his helpmate Jerry Farrell (Ken Curtis) and dotty Dr. Radford Baines (Gordon McLendon). Due to weather conditions, the captain informs his chartered party that due to weather conditions, and that he will be unable to ship them back to the mainland straightaway. They express shock and disappointment – is there something they're keeping away from him?

Movie Review: Bloodlust (1961, Film Chest)

...here's a good question, folks. What literary concepts and/or characters has been most resourced, as far as directly, indirectly, or even loosely adapting said resource into the motion picture format?? It is certain that many probably come to mind. The works of William Shakespeare. Edgar Allan Poe. Sherlock Holmes. Cinderella. Dracula. And that's just shot-gunning off the top of this viewer's head. To that list, we might also add the classic 1924 short story by author Richard Connell, entitled "The Hounds of Zaroff". Not surprising, if...title-wise...this one doesn't sound familiar to most, and yet, the basic storyline of this torrid tale...isolated, a man horrifically discovers that he is being relentlessly hunted like an animal, by another man...is most assuredly a familiar archtype for many a motion picture, stretching back to the early days of Hollywood. Taking that into account, now what comes readily to mind. 1993's "Hard Target", perhaps? Most recently, 2009's "The Tournament", maybe? How about 1945's "A Game of Death", or 1956's "Run with the Sun"? And of course, there's the classic 1932 RKO production, "The Most Dangerous Game". Even in the realm of public domain cinema, such a tale has been amiably adapted...by all means, far from perfect, mind you...but then, not exactly the worst adaption. We're talking the 1959 (...or 1961, depending upon the source) schlocker, "Bloodlust", and the folks over at Film Chest have seemingly taken up the task, in polishing this tense and embraceable turd. Let's just see about that...

Movie Review: Silent Night, Bloody Night (aka DEATHOUSE, 1972)

Directed by Theodore Gershuny

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell



Jeffrey Butler (James Patterson) hires lawyer John Carter (Patrick Neal) to cinch the deal over his long abandoned family mansion in a small, upstate New York town. The forbidding manse has a cryptic past. It once served as an insane asylum, and his grandfather mysteriously burned to death while residing there. The lawyer is introduced to the townspeople, who seem a secretive bunch. Both Mayor Adams (Walter Able) and newspaperman Charlie Towman (John Carradine) seem ill-suited to an outsider coming into town to settle long-standing problems. Carter and his Swedish girlfriend Ingrid (Astrid Heeren) bed down at the Butler house where they are brutally ax murdered by an unseen assailant. As the long winter night grows long, threatening phone calls are made to various townspeople and they, too fall victim to the mad killer. Will the mayor's daughter (Mary Woronov), who joins forces with Jeffrey be able to solve the mystery before time runs out for them, too?

Silent Night, Bloody Night is best known along with Bob Clarke's Black Christmas (1974) as the other Christmas horror film without a killer Santa Claus. Directed by star Woronov's then-husband, Ted Gershuny, the film has atmosphere and many clever touches – but it hasn't aged very well. A proto-slasher before John Carpenter's Halloween (1979), there are lots of continuity errors and some egregiously wooden performances. This is made clear in one of the very first scenes: When the elder Butler burns to death at the mansion, he runs out into the snowy acres on the grounds and doesn't think of rolling into the wet, slushy snow to extinguish flames. The mad killer decapitates a victim at a grave-site, and Woronov and Patterson arrive at the scene minutes later – the surrounding area clean of all signs of bloodshed.

Cinematic Hell: Zaat (1975)

Director: Don Barton
Stars: Marshall Grauer, Wade Popwell, Paul Galloway, Gerald Cruse, Sanna Ringhaver, Dave Dickerson, Archie Valliere and Nancy Lien

I'm fast coming to the conclusion that my favourite bad movies are the ones that provide the sole entry on the filmographies of almost everyone involved. Career filmmakers, especially low budget ones, often have distinct voices discernible across their entire output, but a need to be at least successful enough to finance their next picture has a tendency to adulterate their personal vision. It's usually an artist's first feature that carries the best mark of who they are and what they have to say and it can be fascinating to see the work of those who never went any further. Don Barton and his Florida creature feature, Zaat, are a great example. Barton was an industry professional, whose Barton Films produced documentaries, commercials and training films. Like most professionals, he eventually succumbed to the urge to try a feature but, while it had a good initial run in the southwest, it never made money and he never made another.

ZAAT Coming to Blu-ray and DVD from Cultura and HD Cinema Classics

Film Chest Proudly Presents
on the CULTRA & HD Cinema Classics Labels

ZAAT

Taking Cult to a Whole New Level … You Can’t Keep a Bad Monster Down!

 Sought-After ’70s Classic Never Before Available on Video is Newly Restored & Remastered in HD

DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack Out Feb. 21^st

NEW YORK CITY — Feb. 1, 2012 — For Immediate Release — Is the monster man, fish or devil?  Everyone’s dying to know (literally) in ZAAT – restored and in HD for the first time ever – available in a special DVD/Blu-ray combo pack Feb. 21 from Film Chest on the CULTRA and HD Cinema Classics labels.

Buy the ZAAT Blu-ray/DVD Combo