Movies: Satan's Slave (1976)

It's cold, I've done exercise, I now have a smoothie (coffee already imbibed, and more on the way), so it must be time for a classy movie...

Satan's Slave (1976)

Ready? Righto, we open at what appears to be a dark mass, where an attractive nude blonde is on an alter, and things don't look good from the devil/goat masked gentleman who keeps throwing devil horns with his hands.  

We cut to the inside of an English country house. Which seems very similar to the last movie, oh well. Things don't end well for her. 

Soundtrack is very avante garde, liking it.

Everyone has RP, which is all quite disconcerting.

A family heads out to the country to see a relative, weird things happen and they crash the car. This also ends very badly. Actually, this movie is also hanging together better than expected. Kathryn, our heroine, gets a lot of flashbacks and appears quite nuts. And she's lost in a what the English term 'a forest', there's even a couple of trees in it. Things potter along quite well, and now there's body painting and erotic stimulation using a sword. The Satanists have *all* the fun.

If I'm following the relationships, we now have incest. I'm not entirely sure I am following it, but still ...

Ahhh clearer now after some exposition, and a lot more boobies, and yes it's still hanging together nicely. Kathryn is now 20, the same age as the wife who was killed. Kathryn is looking to follow this lead in an attempt to bring the wife back to life. It's like Morse...Oh her father is back (he who died in the car crash), this is confusing for all of us. 

A lot better than I expected, nice twists. 

Movie: Terror (1978)

This one opens with a bunch of arty out of focus shots for the credits, with some reasonable psych-prog widdling along in the background.

Terror 1978

Great start to the movie - mob carrying flaming torches, and dodgy character setting a bear trap, while a young woman (with clothes still technically on) evades the torches - oh noes!!! she's found the bear trap.
Inside of a mansion now, and some glasses are rattling, ominously. My god the cuts are already confusing, our bear trapped woman is apparently a witch and is being burnt on the stake while she calls on satan to help her. Things go poorly for the townspeople. Sadly she's still got clothes on. Her screams do not match up with her mouth being open, I guess she's some form of ventriloquist witch. But we've got a death now! Lord of the mansion is no more, and witchy babe is laying vengence down.
Followed by 'The End', apparently this was all a movie screening. Goddamn I was really getting into it. Bunch of 70s people not wanting to re-enact events from 300 years ago. No really, I've got no idea where this is heading...
First up we have hypnotism. Anne appears to be possessed and she's found a sword!!! Apparently all members of this family die in horrible ways....

Actually, this is developing into a nice low budget horror movie. Atmosphere is well done, and there's a strong undercurrent of tension. Most of the deaths are quite gruesome, and so far, very little redemption. Nice find this one.

and the opening credit music

Movie: Stanley (1972)

Continuing our odyssey into the lesser travelled byways of the movie business...

Stanley opens with shots of resting alligators and a strange man wandering around (he's wearing a bizarre top), he stops, cuts his leg and tries to get something out of it. Unsuccessfully. The credits roll with a very 70's singer/song writer track. I guess we're supposed to think this chap is at one with nature. I'm getting a bit bored of the shots of american wildlife bouncing through glades/forests/rivers. The man talks to his snake. This is not a euphemism. We learn he's a native american and therefore *at one with nature*. The director cannot stress this enough. Right on.

There are a lot of snakes. Indy wouldn't be happy. Finally some conversation, and guess what, it's exposition - the white man has wronged him. He doesn't want to rejoin his tribe, and now there are white men coming to bother him, we've also learnt his name is Tim. Woohoo more exposition and racist background. I'm sure the writer & director felt it was very 'aware'.

Ahhh he collects snakes so the venom can be used for treatment.  And now he wants to avenge his fathers murder. With snakes. It's fair to say this movie is not rocking along. I'd make a pun about slithering along, but snakes do move very quickly...

This movie clocks in around 1h45min. It feels like 3-4 hours.

Movie: The Madmen of Mandoras aka They Stole Hitler's Brain

Yes. This is a classic. Ticks so many boxes, and pleased to have the chance to see it again.

I knew this one as 'They Stole Hitler's Brain', but apparently it's also known as Madmen of Mandoras.

The movie starts off with something similar to a public science info movie about nerve gas. Brilliant. All male scientists, of course, with broad and significant chins. But huzzah, they've found an antidote to the nerve gas, it's known as PAM.

There's an abduction of a professor, murder, confusion. Damn you Mandoras! And now some flashbacks to Nazi Germany, along with a story about how a lab tech was there during the final days. Adolf, or Mr H, as he's known as, has a very large nose, which I find amusing for all the wrong reasons.
Ohhh some nice jazz now. Things potter along, with more kidnappings. Mr H seems very peripheral. Our man in Mandoras / Cpt. Renault, and now more exposition by the Excellency. Still very limited Hitlering.
Some aural torture of the Professor, thankfully he's still alright. He assures us of this.
Mr H is here!!! he's floating in liquid, and blinking! Gasps abound from our captives. The Excellency is also a prisoner (I hope you're following this, there will be a test). Hitler's box comes with a carry handle, those clever Nazi's. After some planes, cars, and grenades, Mr H appears to be melting.

Worth watching? well yeah kinda. i still like it.

Movie: The Devil's Hand

I'm making the xmas cake today. So while the cake does the cooking thing, I'm sliding back into sordid b-grade goodness.

The Devil's Hand (1961) 

Another B&W, this opens with some lovely rockabilly, and then some serious exposition. He isn't sleeping and has handed in his notice at work. She wasn't told this. We're all shocked. Cut to him dreaming of blonde dancing. Oh yeah, a soliloquy !! Apparently he'd never met this blonde he's dreaming of. There is an unknown force. There's a doll made up of the blonde, and his partner. Everyone is confused. No-one brought in any photo's. He's found her! Her name is Bianca (I knew a Bianca once, she wasn't blonde). The movie does have some style, he's very Don Draper / Bogart. And now she's transparent.
the god they are praying to, the great devil god, appears to be called gambon :D There's dissent in the ranks, someone is trying to get out of the dark whatever it is. Oh hang on, it was a test. I barely survived that, too stressful. We're back in the temple, apparently the great Gamba (sadly not Gambon) is displeased, there's a traitor in the midst !! Additionally, their bongo player is possibly the most boring bongo player ever. Oh the (original) girlfriend is going to be sacrificed. There's tension, drama, and more double-crossing. I don't like his striped tie, although the suit is well cut.
It ends weakly. Much as it began.


Here's the movie (from movie archive), which is free !!!

And the trailer:

And the rockabilly:

Movie Review: Terrified

Yep. More.

Terrified kicks off with someone getting buried in cement, and someone else laughing (I hardly need add manically), with oddly human versions of howling wolves.
We switch to an elderly couple driving, who swerve to avoid a head-on crash. This has some of the worst acting I've seen, the woman made Orlando Bloom look good.
They reach a diner, and we have a lot of exposition, and introduce the concept of Crazy Bill. There is a lot of mention of Crazy Bill, and soon those krazy kids go out to 'Ghost Town' to meet him.
Still looking for Crazy Bill, the KK's have moved from a house of rotten floorboards, to a cemetery.

Bill has met an unfortunate, spiky, end. The other KK turns up (Ken) and decided to stay and look around for the murderer.
We view the murderer, he's wearing a balaclava. They fight, badly. I'm yet to be terrified. Although Ken is now hearing voices.
I'm your oldest friend, terror.
This didn't work as intended - we laughed.
It's still going. Tedious! I'm also confused. And still no-one appears terrified.