Witchfinder General (1968)
The tragically early death of director Michael Reeves (aged just 25) means that Witchfinder General very quickly established itself as something as a cult classic. It is certainly an outstanding film - and one can only imagine what Reeves would have gone on to achieve had he live a little longer – but there are one or two little niggles. Read more
The Ring Two (2005)
Whichever way you look at it, it’s hard not to view The Ring Two as being a crushing disappointment. This follow-up to the US remake of the Japanese classic (you may need to draw a diagram to follow that) was passed over by several directors until it ended up in the hands of Hideo Nakata, the Japanese director who brought us the original Ring. Considering that the US film itself wasn’t too shabby, you could be forgiven for getting excited by this; unfortunately, The Ring Two is almost guaranteed to shake your faith in both the versatility of the original concept and in Nakata’s abilities as a director. Read more
The Mummy (1932)
The Mummy is almost like an early greatest hits film for the fledgling Universal monster series, pairing director Karl W Freund (responsible for the lovely cinematography on Dracula) with Boris Karloff, then riding high on the success of Frankenstein. The combination is, predictably, absolutely electric; but whilst the film is undeniably a masterpiece, it’s also an unexpectedly quiet, almost dreamy affair. Wisely, Freund doesn’t try to get Karloff to repeat his Frankenstein performance as Im-Ho-Tep; all we see of the mummified version of his character is his face and hand, leaving the rest to the imagination. Read more
The Beyond (1981)
Following the success of Zombie Flesh Eaters Italian director Lucio Fulci clearly didn’t believe in rocking the boat too much. The Beyond is another zombie splatter film, which again features innocent bystanders stumbling on an ancient and mysterious curse that causes the dead to come to life - this time in an old Louisiana hotel, neatly merging zombie carnage with rather more atmospheric haunted house overtones. Cue lots of breathless running around, gore and rather unconvincing dubbing. Read more
Salem’s Lot (1979)
I’m always delighted when I watch a film and stumble across a scene that has been parodied on The Simpsons but whose provenance has, until then, eluded me (I was a lonely child). If you’ve seen the Halloween special where Mr. Burns is Dracula (it’s one of the early ones, when they were still funny) you might remember the bit where Bart is bitten and appears outside of Lisa’s window one night beckoning her to join Burn’s burgeoning army of the undead. If you’ve also seen Salem’s Lot you’ll be aware that this is where Mr. Groening drew his inspiration from, though he went on to execute a brilliant bit of story-making which rather leaves Tobe Hooper’s ponderous tale behind. Read more
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