Tag Archives: horror

Mysteries Unveiled: Mill of the Stone Women (1960)

11 Saturday May 2024

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Rating: ★★★☆☆

Transport yourself back to the enchanting era of 1960s horror with “Mill of the Stone Women,” a Gothic gem that stands as a historical milestone in Italian cinema. Shot in vibrant color, this film immerses viewers in the lush landscapes of the Holland countryside, expertly captured by cinematographer Pier Ludovico Pavoni. Drawing inspiration from Flemish and Dutch painters, the visuals alone are worth the price of admission. Also, on a worthy note, the opening credits claim that the film is based on the book Flemish Tales by Pieter van Weigen. This is a fictionalised statement as no such book exists and sparks the imagination and inspiration of similar concepts adopted by future filmmakers who claim their features are ‘based on a true story’.

The story revolves around journalist Hans von Arnim (Pierre Brice), who embarks on an investigation into the fabled Mill of the Stone Women. Designed by the enigmatic Professor Gregorious Wahl (Herbert A.E. Böhme), the mill features a carousel adorned with female statues. As Hans delves deeper into the mysteries surrounding the mill, he becomes entangled in a web of secrets, madness, and macabre occurrences.

While the initial setup may feel somewhat pedestrian, the film gains momentum as it hurtles towards its climactic finale. Director Giorgio Ferroni deftly infuses the narrative with Grand Guignol flair, delivering a theatrical and melodramatic conclusion that grips viewers until the very end. Though it may not reach the dizzying heights of Mario Bava’s “Black Sunday,” released in the same year, “Mill of the Stone Women” still offers plenty to sink your teeth into, from its captivating storyline to its haunting visual charm.

The Prognosis:

“Mill of the Stone Women” is a captivating journey into the heart of Gothic horror, filled with intrigue, suspense, and visual splendor. While it may stumble at times, it ultimately delivers a satisfying cinematic experience that will linger in the minds of viewers long after the credits roll.

  • Saul Muerte

1960s Horror Retrospective: Black Sunday (1960)

06 Monday May 2024

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The Birth of Baza

As I began my retrospectives of the 1960s horror era, part of my excitement centred on the Master of Italian Italian Horror and pioneer in the Giallo scene, film director Mario Bava. He led the way and inspired so many filmmakers with his visual style, particularly for his use of colour that would leave a lasting legacy on the genre. This all started in earnest with his solo directorial debut, the Gothic horror starring Barbara Steele, Black Sunday. That’s not to say he was a stranger to the celluloid art, having crafted a career since the late 30’s in many guises that would lead him to becoming a cinematographer to harness his voice and vision, come the release of Black Sunday.

Loosely based on the short story Viy by Nikolai Gogol, that was a passion project of Bava and one he had a close liking to having told the story numerous times to his own children before they went to bed. It’s little wonder that his own son Lamberto Bava would follow in his father’s footsteps and direct horror films. 

Black Sunday is a tale of vengeance and retribution and is most predominantly remembered for its shocking opening scene. Asa (Steele) and her paramour, Javutich are accused of sorcery and sentenced to death. Part of their sentence involved being placed in bronze masks with spikes on the inside and having them hammered in place over their face.

Two centuries later her preserved corpse is reanimated and in order to be fully resurrected, Asa must possess the body of her look-alike descendant Katia. Will she succeed? Can love prevail?

Also starring John Richardson before he was cast in Hammer’s She, and One Million Years BC, as the love interest. Black Sunday is held in high esteem because of some of its imagery, such as the afore-mentioned opener and maggots crawling out of an eye socket in another scene, but it’s also the decision to shoot in black and white, monochrome with a richness to it that both arcs back to the films of Universal that had initially paved the way for horror on screen, but also bridges the gap to the future and how the genre would be shaped. It would launch Barbara Steele’s career, especially in horror for classic films such as The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Horrible Dr Hichcock. For Bava, he would mould his movies over the following decade and cement his name in history. 

– Saul Muerte

Movie review: Skeletons In The Closet (2024)

29 Monday Apr 2024

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When you see Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Udo Kier on the credits listmon a film and you’d be forgiven for presuming that it would be a half decent entry, but Skeletons In The Closet is like the visual equivalent of hitting the snooze button on an old analogue clock. 

As the incredibly slow pace to the movie drags you desperately into its fold, we’re presented with a mother, Valentina (Valery M. Ortiz) and her husband, Mark (Howard) watch their lives fall apart, as if they were the combined metaphor of Job, continuously having their faith tested. Instead though, they are harbouring an evil presence that is sucking out the energy of their lives and inflicting a damning curse upon them. This starts with Mark losing his job after believing that he was actually up for a promotion, to their daughter Jenny (Appy Pratt) being diagnosed with terminal cancer. If that wasn’t bad enough Mark engages with a local crook based on ill advice from his brother (Gooding Jr). This inevitably leads to them putting the squeeze on the family and Mark’s logical leap to seek council from Madam Fortuna (Sally Kirkland), who just kicks the can down the road when she sees only disaster in the future. In steps the specialist Luc (Kier), who is even more mysterious and the potential threat or menace to what has been plaguing them for so long. All the while Valentina has been seeing visions of a pale woman dressed in white, haunting her every move.

Eventually we get to learn that one of them has a skeleton in their closet and must rid themselves of their curse with drastic consequences.

The Prognosis:

This is a slow and laborious possession that feels like we are shuffling off this mortal coil with the aid of a zimmer frame. 

There’s one thing to establish character, but another to make us care about the character enough by going deeper into their psychological make up. It’s as though the creatives chose to do neither here and be content on going, here look at their hardship… isn’t it bad? I wonder what is the root cause of this evil?

Unfortunately, the film is pretty woeful, and the care factor is zero for this incredibly below par snoozefest.

  • Saul Muerte

Skeletons In The Closet is streaming on Shudder from 3 May.

1960s Horror Retrospective: Jigoku (1960)

27 Saturday Apr 2024

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Across the pond, Japan was also delivering on the genre scene in what would be known as their Golden Age of cinema. Part of the foundations of this era were the big 6 production houses of which Shintoho were significant in the make up. Unfortunately Jigoku would be the last to be released by the company having filed bankruptcy not long after it hit cinemas. Despite this, Shintoho would go out with a bang, producing one of the most compelling films from the country and one that went against the grain of popular cinema at the time to go on to be a cult film in its own right. 

With its graphic depiction of hell Jigoku would follow a couple Shirō and Yukiko appear to have it all going for them until one tortuous night when Shirō gets a lift home with his friend Tamura when tragedy strikes. Tamura knocks down and kills a yakuza gang leader, Kyōichi. This incident was witnessed by Kyōichi’s mother and from here on out, the tragedy unfolds with macabre consequences, including the death of Yukiko and the vengeance of the yakuza gang still looking out for justice. And all this is before Shirō goes on a Dante’s Inferno style journey into limbo, fighting for his very soul among the damned and trying to steer him and his family towards enlightenment.

Perhaps it was because they had their backs up against the wall but with extras all pulling their weight to build the sets and complete the last picture for Shintoho, Jigoku was able to weave all these components together to tell a fractured tale of heartache, loss and the fight for purity. It’s the visual imagery that stands it apart from the crowd, with a narrative that leans into the heart and soul of spirituality among the darkness to expose the sinners of hell and make way for grace to shine through. For this, Jigoku deserves its place alongside the other classic films released in the 60s. 

– Saul Muerte

1960s Horror Retrospective

The Flesh and the Fiend

Eyes Without A Face

Peeping Tom

Psycho

The Brides of Dracula

House of Usher

1960s Horror Retrospective: House of Usher (1960)

27 Saturday Apr 2024

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Up until now, American International Pictures had been overseeing black and white features shot on a low budget. House of Usher would prove a vital turning point for the film production company, marking it as the first that would be shot in colour. It would also be the first in seven collaborations between director Roger Corman and the enigmatic Vincent Price based on American Gothic writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe’s work. Although it strains a little from this well-known piece, one which modern audiences would be familiar with through Mike Flanagan’s love song to the artist, it is well crafted and stylised to have generated a worthy audience at the box office.

When Philip Winthrop embarks on a visit to the titular house in order to see his fiance Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey) is greeted by her brother, Roderick (Price) instead. Roderick is hellbent on encouraging Philip to leave for fear that the usher curse that has been placed on the family and its household should further bring ruin to the couple. Philip does not take on this warning and instead aims to steal Madeline from the house. This plan falls awry though when Madeline slips into a catatonic state, and her fiance resigns with a heavy heart that his betrothed has died. Roderick meanwhile ebbs further into a state of madness, believing the curse to have struck again and entombing Madeline in the family crypt. This act is enough to send poor Madeline into hysteria, and thus the two siblings are joined in their own pandemonium.

Madness and its frailty is certainly exposed here as the core theme to the film and Vincent Price’s amplified performance is never more on song than here. From a bumper year in 1959, turning out in horror classics such as House on Haunted Hill; The Tingler; and The Bat, Price would cement his name in the dark genre and take great strides in the sixties and early seventies. This is very much his movie, ably supported by the visual chemistry of set design, gore and the quality of special effects for its time.

– Saul Muerte

1960s Horror Retrospective

The Flesh and the Fiend

Eyes Without A Face

Peeping Tom

Psycho

The Brides of Dracula

1960s Horror Retrospective: Psycho (1960)

25 Thursday Apr 2024

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If ever there was a movie that defined horror films and launched the genre to a new level, it is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. So impactful was the film upon the popular consensus, that it would shift the perspective and inspire future filmmakers but upon its release it would not receive such high accolades, mainly directed at the melodramatic choices and these sensationalistic tendencies from Hitchcock were based purely on shock value, labelling Psycho as a gimmick.

The reason Psycho holds such a lofty position over 60 years since its release, is not just the shift in tone, whether it was the surprise murder of Marion (Janet Leigh) a third of the way through the movie, or the identity of Norman’s mother, but the psychological components that drive deep into the heart of the narrative. The stylised elements that Hitchcock adds to the film are the eloquent touches that allow these conceptual components to flourish.

Like Peeping Tom released earlier in the year, Psycho plays with the voyeuristic approach to the narrative, luring the viewer into the seemingly fragile Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a man traumatised by the emotional abuse of his mother. This is more noticeable when Bates removes the painting to look through a peephole at the unwitting Marion has she undressed. The male gaze and the seduction has never before been dallied with in a high-profile feature.

There are also strong symbolisms embedded throughout that entrench the foundations that it was built upon. Amongst the questionable character traits that keep the audience guessing, there are also twists and turns of vulnerability and exploitation that thread throughout. These executions on delivery would leave audiences feeling anxious or unease, daring to go where movies had feared or were unable to do so relaxed views on the Production Code; an act of self-censorship imposed by the industry. The fact that Psycho overshadowed Peeping Tom for broaching similar themes seems unjust, where one director would rise to prominence and be forever remembered for his film, whereas the other would be doomed to a fallen career as a  result.

That’s not to say that Psycho doesn’t deserve to have the recognition bestowed upon it, The performances by the film’s leads, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins and Vera Myles are at their most renowned and for good reason. Perkins’ flickers around with Bates’ personality casually swinging from likeable charm and gaining our sympathy to an unsettling picture of a man who is on the brink of reality. 

I’ve yet to remark on the score by Bernard Herrmann, whose jarring strings punctuate the now infamous shower scene in stark contrast to the muted, darker and intense scenes. The use of tension as it slowly wrenches up though Arbogast’s (Martin Barlsam) investigations and the pursuit of truth from Marion’s sister Lila (Leigh) and Sam Loomis (John Gavin), Marion’s lover drive our own hopes that our suspected protagonist will prevail before the veil is firmly drawn from before our eyes.

There are countless areas that I could wax lyrical on but these have been discussed on other platforms before, Needless to say, it takes place here (rightfully) for its entry into the 1960s horror retrospective. With three sequels, a dubious remake, and a TV series all centred around Norman Bates have further cemented its status and will forever be immersed in our collective psyche.

– Saul Muerte

1960s Horror Retrospective

The Flesh and the Fiend

Eyes Without A Face

Peeping Tom

1960s Horror Retrospective: Eyes Without A Face (1960)

22 Monday Apr 2024

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The second feature that I chose to dissect in my 1960s horror retrospective was brought to realisation by French surrealist director, Georges Franju. Eyes Without A Face projects the tale of a surgeon transfixed with guilt following an accident that leaves his daughter horrifically scarred. Now Doctor Génessier (Pierre Brasseur) is consumed with restoring the face of Christine (Edith Scob) going to drastic measures to achieve his goal.

What marks this film as a significant entry into the horror genre is partly down to this obsessive and compulsive desire to recapture beauty and innocence. The extent that Doctor Génessier goes to in both his experimentation on animals, and then through kidnapping, torturing and eventually killing female victims in order to fulfil this requirement is an empty and void enterprise which will only lead to ruin. The self-reproach that propels him is so wrapped up in fantasy, that he slowly spirals into madness and drifts further and further away from reality. His fate is sealed and ironically innocence remains intact with his daughter left to immerse in nature, away from society’s constrictions. She even carries a dove with her to over-amplify this metaphor. 

As with The Flesh and the Fiend, Eyes Without A Face also initially suffered at the box office, struggling to contain a story built around containing the gore (blood), animal cruelty, and mad scientists in order to avoid censorship across Europe. This a tough trick to pull off as the source material, a novel by Jean Redon, (bearing the same name as the film) is filled with these themes throughout. 

The response was initially a sour one with the exception of the homegrown audience in France, who were compelled by its unique storyline. It wasn’t until the mid 80s when it was re-released theatrically that it started to receive the recognition that it deserved. It has since gone on to be considered a classic and placed quite high in Time Out’s Top 100 Horror Movies as voted by people working in the horror industry.

What also elevates the haunting images and the subject of isolation in the pursuit of idealism, is the musical score composed by the great Maurice Jarre, who also worked on classic features such as Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. Here, the music has a juxtaposition of representation through upbeat and jovial affair to one of melancholy. It is a triumph and supports the film’s own tumultuous confliction.

– Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Infested (2024)

22 Monday Apr 2024

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Not only does Sébastien Vanicek’s debut feature impress to the point where you seriously take notice of his creature feature, but it did so to the point that a certain Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert have confidently placed him in the directorial chair for the next instalment of the Evil Dead franchise. 

Upon watching the film, you can see why as it places a group within the confines of a set location while they fend off beasties, left, right and centre.

In this instance, said beasties come in the form of a hostile and deadly species of desert spider. These arachnids are of a significant size and as they breed, which is frequent, their spawn increases in size and population to such a degree that they have quickly infested the block of flats that lays the setting of the movie.

We’re quickly introduced to the toxic, killing creatures from the beginning when three men capture the specimens, somewhere in the MIddle East, and come immediately under siege, proving that these creatures are going to be the headliners, and Vanicek doesn’t hold back, going bigger with every moment they arrive on screen.

The narrative picks up when Kaleb (Théo Christine) picks up one of the specimens from a Parisian pawn shop to add to his bug collection. Once home, though, he places the spider in a cardboard shoe box, before being embroiled in an on-going argument with his sister, Manon (Lisa Nyarko). This sibling confrontation is the heart of the movie, struggling to turnover their apartment since losing their parents and struggling to meet on agreed terms, but are forced to come together in order to find a way out of their diabolical situation. This in itself is a symbol for the detriment of their poverty stricken society, as both Kalen and Manon are a group of many citizens, trying to make ends meet, and making decisions along the way that they may regret, forcing a wedge amongst them. Can they put their differences aside and climb out of the infested rubble they call home?

Vanicek also does a superb job of crafting out the tension as the mismatch of misfits, wrangle their way through apartments and corridors, searching for the meaning behind the initial outbreak, cocooned inside by the police who have quarantined the area; to then searching their way out of the web of infiltration. 

The Prognosis:

There is a reason this movie has been the talk on Hollywood’s lips. Director Vanicek does an outstanding job for his directorial debut feature, building up the tension, placing the characters in a tightly, wound up situations and stretching the unbelievable arachnid feature, into one of jaw-dropping fun. Do yourself a favour and welcome the spider contagion, for it’s a cracker of a flick and will burrow into your mind and impregnate the cerebellum to become a hot contender for horror flick of the year.

  • Saul Muerte

Infested will be streaming Exclusively on Shudder and AMC+ from Friday 26 April

1960s Horror Retrospective: The Flesh and the Fiends (1960)

20 Saturday Apr 2024

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Having journeyed through the rise and fall of Universal Classic Monsters during the early thirties and the passing of the baton to British Film production company Hammer Films in the mid-fifties, it’s time to switch my celluloid gaze upon the 1960s and the twists and turns that the decade would take in the name of horror. 

To begin, my focus falls upon a feature that at the time struggled to get deserved recognition, both in production and when it eventually hit the screens, but has since gone on to become a cult film in its own right.

Directed by John Gilling (who would go on to call the shots for a few Hammer Films later in the decade) The Flesh and the Fiends would be a re-working of a previous feature called The Greed of William Hart penned by Gilling, but suffered at the hands of the British Board of Film Censors. The request that all references to the real-life murderers, Burke and Hare be removed would be rectified for TFATF, with the opening title displaying, “”[this] is a story of vice and murder. We make no apologies to the dead. It is all true.” 

Based on the macabre events set in the 1820’s when the 19th Century medical doctor, Robert Knox would purchase corpses for medical purposes from the afore-mentioned Burke and Hare. Knox, brought to the screen by another Hammer alumni, fresh from his rise to fame as Doctor Frankenstein, Peter Cushing, who noted the similarities between Knox and the Baron, “The minds of these exceptional men were driven by a single desire: to inquire into the unknown. Ahead of their time, like most great scientists, their work and motives were misunderstood.”

Cushing was magnificent in this role, even going to significant measures to enact the same droopy eye that Knox bore from contracting smallpox when he was young. 

Cushing is not the only standout though as both Burke and Hare are magnificently portrayed by George Rose and Donald Pleasance, adding some offbeat humour amongst the gruesome scenes, especially in some of the murders that take place. The finest example of this coming when Burke (Rose) suffocates Aggie (Esme Cameron) while Hare (Pleasance) is dancing a jig, perfectly juxtaposing the brutality on show.

Cinematographer Monty Berman also provides some striking images, a master pf black and white photography, he managed to capture the dank and dismal scenes in 19th Century Edinburgh. This along with Gilling’s knack to take the action scenes by the horns with his own unique bruteish fashion, is one that left a compelling mark on the genre, kick-starting the decade in style. While it was impactful in British cinemas, it went without a trace Stateside and was considered a failure. It does deserve greater recognition, outshone as it was by the likes of Hammer’s style and substance, The Flesh and the Fiends, the mood of the piece was a grim and tormentous affair.

– Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Tunnel (2011)

19 Friday Apr 2024

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been 13 years since The Tunnel was released and broke new ground in the process. It’s been well documented how the creative team were seeking new ways to both fund and distribute their feature film. It was a bold enterprise that would be distributed through BitTorrent, exposing the film to millions for free, which some people in the industry found reprehensible. Furthermore, writer/producer partners Julian Harvey and Enzo Tedeschi would venture into enterprising means to seek funding by selling individual frames of the film for $1 before the cameras had even started rolling.

What is clear and fundamental to their success however was the passion, dedication, hard work and talent that was on display. All of which was the driving force for success as Tedeschi states, The Tunnel would provide him with the means to build his career upon. And while that declaration stands true, the fact that  each crew member was able to lean into their talents, whether it is Harvey and Tedeschi’s skills as not only storytellers but a deft hands in the editing room to spin a yarn with descent effect; or utilising a camera guy as one of their performers, Steve Davis, a talent in both areas; one he would leverage off a collective group of equally talented actors, Bel Delia; Andy Rodoreda; and Luke Arnold, each with their own unique take on their characters, and the collaboration of the troupe to support and strengthen one another lifts their performance off the screen. There’s also Julian and Enzo’s knack at keeping an eye on the bigger picture, combined with a focus on the finer details to work alongside Tedeschi plus keeping the film on track, especially when it started to escalate and gain traction fast.

It helps that The Tunnel also had a proficient director in Carlo Ledesma to provide the glue and unite all these elements together in order to make the film a reality.

What they established together was a defining moment, not just for Australian cinema but on a global scene too. They fought against the odds in what was deemed a controversial move at the time. The resistance was great, but they stood strong in their quest and produced a film that still stands strong today.

Yes, there have been advancements in technology in a relatively short space of time since its release, and in many ways the landscape remains the same, but the breakthrough The Tunnel created was a significant shift in filmmaking mentality and provided opportunity for other creatives to think outside of the box and seek alternative ways for their creativity to shine through.

– Saul Muerte

The Tunnel is currently streaming on Shudder and thankfully you can also get an insight into how the creative team pulled together and embarked on their intrepid journey with a fantastic behind the scenes documentary, The Tunnel: The Other Side of Darkness; also currently streaming on Shudder.