Bay of Blood deserves credit for being one of the first true slasher films of the 70's, but it has a lot more style and certainly a lot more dark wit than many of those that came after it. It's full of twists and literally anyone could be the killer.
Reviews
107 Reviews
StageFright
(1987)
Slasher Italiano
15 May 2022
Style oozes from every pore of this Italian slasher film featuring a bunch of actors and dancers trapped in a theater with a madman and his multitude of sharp weapons. It lacks sophisticated characterizations and story logic at times, but the lush cinematography and gory murders make up for it.
It's Tyrrell's Show
15 May 2022
Lacks style but makes up for it in odiously fascinating performance by Susan Tyrrell and Bo Svenson. Tyrrell echoes the tradition of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in their horror film phase and creates a memorable villainess.
Abby
(1974)
Not a Lost Classic
12 March 2022
After years of wondering what the fuss about Abby was, I couldn't help but feel a little let down once I saw it. It's your average Exorcist ripoff but with less convincing effects, scripting, and acting. It plays more like a bizarre comedy than a horror film for most of the run time and runs out of steam midway through. Carol Speed gives a fun performance as the title character and is the main reason to see it besides the unintentional laugh moments.
Three on a Meathook
(1972)
Too Much Fluff
12 March 2022
Moments of Three on a Meathook really work and some of the low-fi effects are well executed, but after the first 30 minutes, it turns into a very different film and forgets that it's a horror movie for awhile until the surprising ending twist which does redeem it a little bit.
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
(1992)
Should Have Been A Blast
12 March 2022
From just reading the description, this sounded like a great time, but the execution is lacking. There are a few good gore gags and some creative camera angles/lighting effects, but it goes on too long and focuses on boring subplots instead of digging into the meat of the story.
Blades
(1989)
It's Bad, But Entertaining
12 March 2022
Blades is the kind of movie where you have a good time with it at the time, but probably won't ever watch it again. It's a fun reworking of Jaws with splashes of Caddyshack but with a killer lawnmower terrorizing the golf-loving members of a country club.
Shallow Grave
(1987)
Sort of Scary
12 March 2022
Going in with no expectations, I was taken by surprise by how well made and suspenseful this movie turned out to be. The stakes are high, the characters are mostly interesting and/or relatable, and you're never sure where the story will go next. Makes me not want to take any road trips through the south.
Hide and Go Shriek
(1988)
A Simply Ok Slasher
12 March 2022
The filmmakers make the most of their creepy, shadow-draped furniture store as the setting of all the bloody mayhem and the film's killer has the unnerving habit of dressing up like their previous victims to lure the next piece of knife fodder into their trap. Characters are mostly underdeveloped, but they're a smarter lot than you'd expect from a film of this sort. The killer reveal is at least memorably strange.
Too Beautiful to Die
(1988)
Too Precictable to Remember
12 March 2022
A mostly predictable late-in-the-game giallo with some beautiful photography and a love of slow motion shots. There's only one or two standout stalk/slash scenes, but they're incredibly well done especially one involving an ill-fated model being trapped in a sound stage at night and having to run from the killer up the catwalks above the stage.
Slipping Into Darkness
(1978)
Psycho-Inspired Oddity
12 March 2022
Crazed doesn't rewrite the rules of the horror genre or offer anything we haven't seen done to some extent or another, but for a low budget horror film, it accomplishes more than most and the attention to character drama and dynamics instead of offering a predicable slash fest is appreciated.
Fresh
(2022)
Took Me By Surprise
12 March 2022
Daisy Edgar-Jones plays a young woman struggling with the terrible dating pool in her area until she has a change encounter with the handsome Sebastian Stan and gets carried away, ignoring some red flags. Part of the fun of Fresh is not knowing too much going into it so you can hope on board and enjoy the ride. It's funny, creepy, and disturbing.
Just Before Dawn
(1981)
Eerie
10 March 2022
Eerie sound design and scoring add a lot to this less bombastic than usual slasher/survival film where yet another carload of young people are stranded in the woods with a family of psychotics. Director Jeff Lieberman wisely focuses more on character, suspense, and mood and it pays off.
Night of the Comet
(1984)
Heartfelt and Cheesy
10 March 2022
This film strikes just the right balance between cheesy schlock and heartfelt fun. The horror elements are tame enough for this to be a good gateway horror film for the younger curious horror fans who don't want something too grim or scary. It's most memorable for the charming interplay between Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart as the two valley girl sisters who end up surviving an apocalyptic comet and take shelter in an abandoned mall with all the free shopping sprees they could ever ask for.
Night of the Creeps
(1986)
Very Entertaining 80's Horror
10 March 2022
So much of what's lovable about Night of the Creeps is the same stuff that makes other 80's horror classics so re-watchable and fun. It's colorful, has enjoyable characters, excellent practical effects, and doesn't take itself too seriously. Genre icon, Tom Atkins, makes a great wisecracking drunk detective.
The Burning
(1981)
Just Sleazy Enough
10 March 2022
The Burning delivers the camp-bound slashings better than even some of the Friday the 13th sequels and the tone of the film is surprisingly serious and intense throughout even if not all of the soon-to-be-victims are the most interesting. Each Tom Savini gore effects seems designed to stop the show more than the one that came before it.
The Prowler
(1981)
Good Start, Slow Middle
10 March 2022
In spite of featuring some of the most inspired effects of Tom Savini's career and a great premise, The Prowler goes too big too soon and leaves it with nowhere to go until the finale of the film. After the first 30 minutes, there's nothing to look forward to but the next death scene and you find yourself not even caring who the killer is. Joseph Zito directs the stalk/kill scenes with conviction and gets good performances out of his cast, but the script starts and stops to often to build any momentum.
My Bloody Valentine
(1981)
See the Uncut Version!
10 March 2022
Realistic characters, a compelling love triangle, and thick amounts of small town atmosphere keep things interesting in between vicious murder sequences from the striking and imposing Harry Warden in his his full mining getup. See the uncut version if you can. It adds a lot to the death sequences.
The Initiation
(1984)
Well Above Average
10 March 2022
A densely plotting and better developed than usual slasher pic with a pre-Spaceballs Daphne Zuniga having nightmares about her mysterious past as members of her family and sorority are being slaughtered by an escaped mental patient. There are a few good twists, some of the characters are more fleshed out than expected, and most of the acting isn't offensively bad.
Intruder
(1989)
Good Enough Gore Fest
10 March 2022
Creative camera work and over the top gore effects fill Intruder's fairly short run time with enough ingenuity and kinetic energy to power the less than exciting script and characters that frequently fall short of the mark. Evil Dead fans will like knowing Bruce Campbell has a charming cameo towards the end.
Angst
(I) (1983)
Very Disturbing
10 March 2022
Great camerawork and an unsettling sense of dread are the two main reasons to recommend Angst. It's an ugly and uncomfortable film, but one made with lots of skill. It's emotionally cold and a depressing experience, but an unforgettable one nevertheless. You might want to save it for when you're in the right mood, because it's bound to disturb the rest of your day.
Scream
(I) (2022)
An Ok Sequel. Nothing More.
23 February 2022
It's a pleasure to see the return of Ghostface along with series favorites Dewey, Gale, and Sidney and the film is smart enough to give these returning characters more to do that the other reboots which inspired this film, but there's a certain stench of deja vu. The film has some stuff to say about the nature of reboots and toxic fandom, but never once does it feel like this movie was crying out to be made. There are a few clever lines, a little bit of suspense, and a majority of the new teen characters are more likable than expected, and it's all entertaining enough, but it doesn't rise to the occasion enough to be declared as a true return to form. Fans of the series will still want to see it just to see how their favorite characters are holding up.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(2022)
Lousy Writing, But A Fun Time
23 February 2022
If you're going into any film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, it's probably best to keep your expectations low since none of them, besides Tobe Hooper's original and, maybe, the Marcus Nispel remake from 2003 have approached anything close to frightening. This reboot, just like 2018's Halloween, pretends the other sequels never happened and brings back the original film's heroine with mixed results. The rest is a charmingly idiotic slash fest with some of the most annoying characters being sawed through by Leatherface who has, for whatever reason, been hiding in an orphanage for the past 50 years. Don't expect the film to tell you why or answer any of the other many questions you'll have about story logic or character motivations and just go along for the ride.
Messiah of Evil
(1974)
Not Much on Plot, But It Doesn't Matter
23 February 2022
You're never really sure where Messiah of Evil will go next and that's an exciting thing to feel from a horror film. The slip of a story we get has a woman trying to locate her missing father in a small, creepy town by the sea that has enough creepy mood to make John Carpenter envious. There are these zombie-like townspeople who sneak up on everyone, lots of strange visual art, and a great sense of dreamlike ambiguity throughout.
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