“The House on Sorority Row” is slowly becoming one of my all-time favourite slashers in the “best of the rest” category. It only gets better with repeat viewings and the atmosphere combined with a mixture of gratuitous kills alongside some that are bloodless but big on the build-up; this film gets most things completely right.
I was quite saddened by the news that genre legend Rutger Hauer passed away on July 19th. The local papers covered his passing and mostly mentioned that he had had a memorable turn in Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” (1982) but for me he will always be best remembered as John Ryder; the infamous hitcher in director Robert Harmon’s 1986 B-movie “The Hitcher”.
A rabid St. Bernard conducts a reign of terror in the small American town Castle Rock. Donna Trenton (Wallace) and her son Tad (Pintauro) are trapped in a malfunctioning Ford Pinto and the rabid dog, Cujo, has them cornered and nowhere to run.
“Opera” is fairly giallo-esque with the black gloved killer, his black hood and preferred use of a knife but Argento basically uses the story as a springboard for some over the top set-pieces, wild and horrific imagery laced with bombastic music ranging from sweet ballads to famous opera numbers to heavy metal, tons of images of ravens and some incredible camera acrobatics.
Mostly a thriller but seriously dabbling in the slasher genre; “10 to Midnight” is a crackerjack flick that’s one of Bronson’s best 80’s efforts. He’s also allowed some room to give a performance and the veteran actor has a commanding presence and makes Leo a compelling character despite some very questionable behaviour.
“Slaughter High” arrived at the tail end of the slasher craze when most of these flicks were completely devoid of original ideas and creativity. They were having a tougher time getting financing, were cutting corners in all areas and many simply disappeared into oblivion.
“Curtains” is a film of two distinct styles. One is a murder mystery with heavy emphasis on mood, lighting and atmosphere while the other one goes for the jugular in stalk ’n slash mode so popular at the time.
Dempsey Cain (Reeve) is a dedicated and highly intelligent cop on the rise who’s always looking out for his kid brother Nick (Edward Kerr) who’s also on the force. Nick is having an affair with Dempsey’s wife Gail (Kim Cattrall) and there’s also a fellow cop, Alan,(Joe Mantegna) who’s displeased at how much Dempsey is impressing the top brass with his investigation skills.
The ultimate Cult-Christmas flick belongs to a movie that’s simply titled “Black Christmas” (1974). A low-budget Canadian effort that didn’t receive much fanfare when initially released; it has gained near immortal status among horror buffs ever since and for many viewers, like myself, it’s required viewing every holiday season.
Continuing with my „Cult-Christmas“ countdown we come to a different kind of beast; „Christmas Evil“ (1980).
