Naboer (2005) @ Cult Reviews!

From time to time, the really cool website Cult Reviews invites me to contribute the site with a review, and once again I have written a piece that just recently got published there; this time for "Naboer" (2005), director Pål Sletaune's contribution to the horror filmography of his native Norway. Keeping up the good work in their dedication to the weird, the strange and the shocking of cinema, chief reviewers Vomitron and Perfesser Deviant continue bringing up reviews, interviews and information about the beloved horror genre, making Cult Reviews the site to go to satisfy that interest on the dark side of cinema. As for "Naboer", it's a terrific example of the new generation of Norwegian horror, in which director Sletaune has crafted a claustrophobic, suffocating atmosphere inside an apartment where bizarre things happen. If your first though was "Polanski" then you are on the right track about the kind of horror Sletaune attempts in "Naboer", though on a decidedly more sexual vein. To know more on it, check out the post at Cult Reviews.

Like my previous contribution, "Due Occhi Diabolici", this review of "Naboer" is part of a series of posts dedicated to the Mr. Horror Presents DVD collection. Known as the foremost horror guru of The Netherlands and Belgium, Jan Doense has built up his reputation as a horror film critic due to his constant work supporting horror filmmaking. Par tof this efforts have been the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (formerly The Weekend of Terror) for example. In his “Mr. Horror Presents” label, Doense releases on DVD a collection of his personal recommendations, modern horror classics that had no previous release on the Benelux countries, but that definitely deserve a watch. In my personal opinion, this effort is quite worth of recognition, as while one may agree or disagree with Doense's opinions, it's great for the fans to be able to acquire some of those films. At Cult Reviews, severeal of the movies of the collection have been reviewed recently, like Jeff Lieberman's "Blue Sunshine", his more recent "Satan's Little Helper", and Scott Spiegel's "Intruder". For a complete of reviews on Mr. Horror releases check here.

On the greater scheme of things, Perfesser Deviant has written reviews of Conor MacMahon's "Dead Meat" and Tripp Reid's "Manticore"; while Marco Freitas has published an interview with filmmaker Michael Schroeder. Finally, Vomitro himself has chronicled his encounter with the bizarre "Dracula Vs. Frankenstein". More of the good stuff can be found at your favourite site on the weird and the strange of cinema Cult Reviews.

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!

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Due Occhi Diabolici (1990) @ Cult Reviews!

Once again, good things are happening at Cult Reviews, that cool website dedicated to the weird, the strange and the shocking of cinema. Horror, exploitation and related weirdness gather there, and after some months of relatively slow output, Vomitron and the Perfesser Deviant are back in the game with more. I was asked to write a piece for the site too, this time about "Due Occhi Diabolici" (or "Two Evil Eyes" in English), that interesting 90s anthology by legendary masters of horror Dario Argento and George A. Romero in which each of them crafts a short film based on one of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. As you can see, the idea seems amazing, almost a horror fan's wet dream (the fact that Adrienne Barbeau and Harvey Keitel are the stars, and that the make-up is by gore-maestro Tom Savini only enhances it) but, unfortunately, things didn't go as well as planned and the output was far from satisfying. Of course, you'll only see why in more detail by reading the post at Cult Reviews.

This review for "Due Occhi Diabolici" is part of a series of posts dedicated to the Mr. Horror Presents DVD collection. Mr. Horror, aka Jan Doense, is known as the foremost horror guru of The Netherlands and Belgium. The man has built up a well deserved reputation in film journalism, and has been for many years the driving force behind the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (formerly The Weekend of Terror). He also witnessed the births of The Night of Bad Taste (aka “De Nacht van de Wansmaak“), The All-Night Horror Show and the Dutch fanzine Shocking News (aka “Schokkend Nieuws”). In short, the man knows his stuff, and on the “Mr. Horror Presents” label, he brings together some of his personal favorites: a collection of (modern) horror classics that were previously unreleased on DVD in the Benelux countries. At Cult Reviews, severeal of the movies of the collection have been reviewed lately, including Scott Spiegel's "Intruder", Spanish horror-noir "Nos Miran" and Jeff Lieberman's "Satan's Little Helper". The whole list of reviews can be found here.

Other recent things of interest in the site are Perfesser Deviant's reviews of two modern horrors: Farhad Mann's "Devil's Diary" and Greg Hudson's "Shredder", as well as a piece on 70s' obscure rarity "Sasqua" by the good fellow codenamed "Humanoid Of Flesh". This and more at your favourite site on the weird and the obscure (which now also has a new logo!).

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!

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Nos Miran (2002) @ Cult Reviews!

It's been a while since I wrote somehting, and that's quite unfortunate because, while life has taken me to different and ejoyable activities lately, I kin do fmiss writing about cinema. Fortunately, this month I could finish a piece for that cool website that allows me to write from time to time: yes, I'm talking once again about Cult Reviews. On this ocassion I wrote about "Nos Miran" (2002), one of the generation of Spaniard horror films that came during the last decade (and that fortunately, still is alive and kicking). Written by the remarkable Jorge Guerricaechevarria and directed by newcomer Norberto López Amado, Nos Miran" is a mix of horror and film noir about an obessesed detective looking for dissapeared people. Naturally, his dark past comes again to haunt him. Classy and tastefully Gothic in that sober vein that Spain's modern horror handles so well, this is a nice film to watch on a rainy night. You'll find more detail on the review at Cult Reviews of course.

Things may seem slow nowadays at Cult Reviews, but there's always somehtig there to discover. I must rcomend Perfesser Deviant's review of the 70s flick "Blood Stalkers" in his quite particular style. Also, Mr. Vomitron writes about one of my favourite modern films, "Harry, Un Ami Qui Vous Veut Du Bien", a beautifully done French thriller on the most Hitchcocknian style. Truly a superb work of art, and Mr. Vomitron's arguments seem to go on that way too. Check out his review. Finally, Coventry writes about a 2010's movie, "Srpski Film" ("A Serbian Film"), an extreme horror film that could literally be described as that hideous label Americans like to use: "torture porn". But well, according to good ol' Coventry, if "Hostel" is torture porn, then a new label must be created for "A Serbian Film", which seems to be extreme just for the sake of it. Coventry gets in more detail in his review. Finally, the full length movie available right now is the 1959's version of "The Bat", directed by Crane Wilbur. Personally, I prefer the silent version, but it's still worth to check it out.

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!



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Targets (1968) @ Cult Reviews!

This month I contributed another review to that cool website that allows me to write from time to time: Cult Reviews. This time I wrote about "Targets" (1968), one of my favourite films from the 60s. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich, "Targets" was his debut as a filmmaker, under the wing of legendary producer Roger Corman and with the one and only Boris Karloff in the lead role. Of course, nothing came up easily, and to get that deal, Bogdanovich had to give some use to footage from Corman's "The Terror" (1963); nevertheless, Bogdanovich had a brilliant idea to use the footage: set the movie on a drive-in theatre. Powerful, crude and haunting, "Targets" was a kind of a statement, as it appeared on the final years of a decade of changes. Naturally, everything will be in greater detail at Cult Reviews.

Besides my lousy writintgs, this month Cult Reviews features a review of one of the films with the weirdest concepts for a horror movie: "One Eyed Monster" (2008), where said monster is nothing else than Ron Jeremy's detached penis. Mr. Vomitron took the job of reviewing such an interesting film and came up with a fine piece about the movie. Besides "One Eyed Monster", Vomitron tackles 2000's Swedish horror film "Det Okända" ("The Unknown"). Reviewer Coventry watched "8th Wonderland", and has many interesting conclusions about it, as it's perhaps one of the fresher films of 2008. Good ol' Perfesser Deviant writes about Vincent Ward's "What Dreams May Come", and if you wonder why such film appears on Cult Reviews, you have to check out what the Perfesser has to say about it. Finally, the Full-Length Movie of the Week is George A. Romero's legendary classic, "Night of the Living Dead" (1968), so by some reason beyond human understanding you have not seen such beauty, you can watch it here.

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!



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The Midnight Meat Train (2008) @ Cult Reviews!

This time in Cult Reviews, my contribution is a review for Ryûhei Kitamura's 2008 debut in American cinema, which was an adaptation of the classic Clive Barker's short story, "The Midnight Meat Train". Starring Bradley Cooper and Vinnie Jones, "The Midnight Meat Train" is a very interesting horror film that features mystery, chilling suspense and a good dose of gruesome violence, all framed by Kitamura's stylish vision. Unfortunately, not everything is perfect on the film, and in fact it suffers from a serious problem that hurts what could had been one of the best movies of the decade. The details about it on my review featured on Cult Reviews.

This month Cult Reviews also features an interesting overview of Brett Leonard's comic book inspired horror film "Man-Thing", all in the trademark style of Cult Reviews' very own Perfesser Deviant. The Perfesser also writes about "Postal", film that some consider to be Uwe Boll's best movie (althought in all honesty, that doesn't say much) and a trip to the time of funky afros and disco music in "Blacula". In tone with the month's marketing device (and with the month's major mainstream release), reviewer Anna McKibben's takes the dust away from the original "My Bloody Valentine" (1981), reviewing the recently released uncut dvd. Finally, Vomitron reviews Jack Hill's 60s oddity: "Spider Baby" (1968), which is also the featured full length movie of the month (remember that Cult Reviews has public domain movies available to watch).

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!



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The Amazing Mr. X (1948) @ Cult Reviews!

Once again I have written a review for Cult Reviews, that site devoted to horror and cult cinema that offers me a space to write from time to time. This time the film in question is Bernard Vorhaus' "The Amazing Mr. X" (1948), a very interesting thriller that fuses horror with the style and topics of film noir in quite a remarkable way. It is the story of a phony spiritualist played by Turhan Bey (known for his work in "The Mummy's Tomb") and his intrusion in the life of a rich widow (played by Lynn Bari). It's quite a surprise, but unfortunately, the film also suffers from some problems, but well, you'll find a more detailed opinion about it on the site.

Cult Reviews also offers a very fun review of that little gem of comedy and horror named "Teeth" (2007), an interesting overview of the indie exploitaiton flick about vomit and other fluids called "Slaughtered Vomit Dolls" (2006), and a trip back to the 80s with Charles McCrann's "Toxic Zombies". Also, for the first Cult Reviews features a full length movie, "Dementia 13", and I'm told that other films in the public domain will have a showcase there in the future.

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!



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Dead Ringers (1988) @ Cult Reviews!

A few months ago I mentioned Cult Reviews, a young site that, as it's name indicates, it's completely devoted to cult films. Recently it had a major design update, and while slowly, it's stll growing. So, in a new collaboration to Cult Reviews, I made a review for one of my favourite films by David Cronenberg (whom is also one of my favourite filmmakers), 1988's "Dead Ringers". The tale of two identical twins who seem to live as one person, "Dead Ringers" is a fascinating movie that, in my opinion, represents the shift Cronenberg made from visceral body horror to subtler psychological horror of his posterior films.

In the past I have posted there reviews for the british classic from the 30s "The Face at the Window", Richard Stanley's masterpiece "Dust Devil", and Alex De la Iglesia wild black comedy "El Día de la Bestia". Some of the more recent reviews there are the one for Ivan Nagy's "Skinner" (1993) and Robert Madero's "Camp Utopia" (2002), and while not as recent, dear friend Mark's (known as Hieronymos Grost) great review for Pasolini's "Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma" is a nice reading, specially since Criterion just released a new DVD for it.

So, keep supporting Cult Reviews!



Buy "Dead Ringers" (1988)

The Face at the Window (1939) @ Cult Reviews

Well, I'm sorry if I have not been able to post new reviews lately, but once again work and school have conspired to steal my time. However, I have been able to collaborate on a new site that a couple of good friends have set up. The site is Cult Reviews and it's dedicated to, well, as it's name may suggest, cult films, mainly of the horror genre, but also those classic sci-fi films, fantasy movies, Spaghetti Westerns, Kaiju monsters, good ol' exploitation (of every variety), and well, just about any other weird and bizarre film that we may decide.

As written above, I was invited to collaborate there too, so some reviews (more apropriate to their site) may turn up there instead of here. So far two have been published there, one for George King's masterful 1939's film, "The Face at the Window" (starring Tod Slaughter!) and another for Richard Stanley's mix of Western and Horror, "Dust Devil" (this one previously published here some months ago).

So, if things here at W-Cinema seem slow at the moment, check out Cult Reviews in the mean time, I'm sure there may be things you'll love, things you'll hate, and things that you weren't even aware that existed on film. And yes, this was just another tiny bit of shameless self-promotion. But you know you like it.



Buy "The Face at the Window" (1939)