Posts by Kevin Nickelson

Review: Nightmare Castle (1965)

Nightmare Castle poster
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Fri, 2009-10-23 02:22
Shocktober Classics 2009: Staff Screams

When you look at the history of horror cinema, there are few actors whose name is synonymous with an entire sub-genre. There's perhaps Boris Karloff and the mad scientist film or Christopher Lee in the Dracula/vampire realm. There's one actor who doesn't often get mentioned amongst the elite group of horror icons, and that's Barbara Steele. With her exotic, striking beauty and graceful physicality, she could move from playing icy villainess to strong but vulnerable heroine with incredible ease. Steele's popularity reached its peak in the 1960s with gothic chillers like Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and The Horrible Dr. Hichcock. One of Steele's lesser films is 1965's Nightmare Castle, a visually sumptuous entry that manages to hold interest despite a wildly silly plot.(read more...)

Review: The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)

The Face of Fu Manchu poster
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Tue, 2009-10-13 02:27
Shocktober Classics 2009: Staff Screams

One's enjoyment of  The Face of Fu Manchu depends on how highly one regards Saturday afternoon serials or at least the formula which made up those multi-chapter adventures. I am an unabashed fan of those old reel-to-reel cliffhangers: the cut-and-dried characters, the huge doses of action, and the simplified good-versus-evil plots. There's no significant subtext, characters in shades of gray, or convoluted writing to get in the way. The Face of Fu Manchu is perfect homage to those B-level time-fillers: stream-lined, stripped-down, "Boys' Life" derring-do at its best.(read more...)

Review: Premature Burial (1962)

Premature Burial poster
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Thu, 2009-10-01 01:47
Shocktober Classics 2009: Staff Screams

Of the myriad number of authors in the realm of horror fiction, none have been better at examining and exposing the powerful demons within the human psyche than the legendary Edgar Allan Poe. Few filmmakers have been more adept at transferring Poe's stories to the big screen than Roger Corman. After huge financial successes with Fall of the House of Usher (1960) and Pit and The Pendulum (1961), it was little surprise that Corman would continue to mine Poe for box office cash in 1962 with the intense and disturbing Premature Burial.(read more...)

Review: Godzilla 1985 (1985)

Godzilla 1985 Japanese poster
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Tue, 2009-05-19 01:51
Godzilla Week

There is a word that is being bandied about more in the film community these days: re-imagining. Re-imagine a film and you hold on to the original idea but deck it out with just enough new elements to reel in new fans. Or more simply, a producer, out of fresh ideas, dusts off an old tried-and-true formula, tweaking things just enough to fool viewers into thinking they’re seeing something different. This is like a used car dealer who pours all the money they have into fixing the exterior an old classic while leaving the cracking vinyl seats alone and still trying to sell it as “like new”. Godzilla 1985 is a rebuilt version of that classic car, replete with cool, dark green paint and new spinning wheel rims. There’s an improved look to this film. Too bad the interior is still the same old and worn material.
(read more...)

Review: Castle of the Walking Dead (1967)

Castle of the Walking Dead poster
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Thu, 2008-10-16 01:01

In the 1960s, while the United States, Great Britain, and even Italy were cornering the market on Gothic horror, West Germany was busy trying to regain a foothold into a style once dominated by Germany, that of expressionistic, wildly visual cinema. The front-running entry in this could very well be 1967’s Castle of the Walking Dead.(read more...)

Review: The Brainiac (1962)

The Brainiac poster
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Thu, 2008-10-02 01:26

The subject of repressed sexuality has long been a staple, whether as main focus or as a subtext, of genre films. It is not often, however, that it is featured prominently within the celluloid confines of a Mexican gothic horror/science fiction opus. 1962’s The Brainiac, produced by Cinematografica ABSA, ambitiously explores the idea that repressing sexual lust can lead to the lowering of morals pertaining to violence and torture. Directed by Chano Urueta and starring two of Mexico’s most popular horror veterans, Abel Salazar and Germán Robles, The Brainiac’s good ideas and intentions are buried beneath an avalanche of poor directing, ludicrous dialogue, and the lowest of budgets. Still, how bad can a film that mixes sex, sorcery, Puritanism, and high-flying comets be?
(read more...)

Review: To the Devil a Daughter (1976)

To the Devil a Daughter
Submitted by Kevin Nickelson on Thu, 2008-06-05 23:10

Good versus evil has been a standard cinematic theme, particularly within the horror genre, since the invention of the Cinematographe by Louis Lumiere in 1895. However, as film audiences have become more jaded over the years, the definitions of good and evil have become less clear. Enter To the Devil a Daughter, an ambitious but technically flawed attempt to muddy the line between hero and villain. Produced in 1975 by Britain’s Hammer Films, in cooperation with Germany’s Terra-Filmkunst, To the Devil a Daughter stars both horror king Christopher Lee and Hollywood legend Richard Widmark (purportedly imported for international box office appeal). Supported by a cast of acting veterens and a talented young director named Peter Sykes, To the Devil a Daughter works... almost.(read more...)

Search

Classic-Horror is © by Answer 42 Media, 1999-present (Contact Form, RSS Feed). All Rights Reserved. Other materials are owned by their respective copyright holders, and will not be infringed upon herein.