Most people know “Frankenstein” through its basic premise and its many adaptations. Man creates human creature from parts of dead bodies, and, in true horror fashion, everything goes wrong. But not so many people are familiar with the actual original story. In a format that was not unusual for the nineteenth century, this story is…
“Images” is a horror movie directed by Robert Altman and starring Susannah York. Horror is not a genre usually associated with Altman, but his foray into this field is effective. A children’s author, Cathryn, is experiencing hallucinations and delusions. Her husband (Rene Auberjonois) takes her away to a cottage in the country, which is where…
“Smoke and Mirrors” is a collection of short stories by the author of “American Gods” (and other great novels) Neil Gaiman. Some of these short works are poems, others the more regular prose, some are creepy, some are quirky, all of them make great reading. I am going to review four of the stories that…
We’ve all heard of the so-called B movie, the low budget films, churned out at speed by studios, usually with pretty terrible plots and casts. Often that is quite true. Sometimes, however, these second-class films can produce something impressive, such as a selection of movies produced in the forties for RKO studios by Val Lewton.…
This is the first Stephen King novel I have read. (I have seen the movie adaptation of this, which I enjoyed very much.) I have to say, I was wondering initially why it is considered a scary book, even though I was enjoying it. I was waiting for the scares, and they just weren’t happening…
“Get Out” is a strongly satirical horror film about an African-American man who visits his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend. She insists they are not racist, but he very quickly is met with firstly subtle racism of the try-hard type (‘I voted for Obama’) and then increasingly more overt racism. Added to this there…
Peter Cushing stars in this story concerning the ownership of the skull of the Marquis de Sade, and what happens to those who own it. There is a varied supporting cast, led by Christopher Lee and including Patrick Magee, Patrick Wymark, Michael Gough, and Frank Forsyth. After a prelude where a man digs up the…
One of the less well-known films from Hammer Horror, “The Gorgon” pairs Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in a muddled version of the gorgon of Greek mythology, transported to a European village. I say muddled because Megara, the gorgon of the title, was not a gorgon at all, but a fury. The gorgon Medusa could…
I need to start this with a disclaimer. What is generally considered to be Vincent Price’s best movie (“Witchfinder General”) will not be appearing on this list, because I haven’t seen it. (It’s on my ‘to watch’ list, along with a million other movies.) You would be forgiven for thinking that Price only starred in…
Back in 1959 the original version of “House on Haunted Hill” was a very B-grade, cheap movie, with only two aspects of it worth watching. One is Vincent Price, and the second is the relationship of the couple, where their hatred of each other has vitriol positively dripping off the screen. As such, the remake…
Eclectic Assemblage 