Monday 30 July 2012

Maniac Cop 1988

Maniac Cop (1988)

Contains spoilers!


Classic bad guy against good guy's, stalk and chase slasher horror with a bit of originality thrown in for good measure.

It has plenty of deaths, not a lot of gore and of course a bad guy that just won't die.

Set in New York you follow Jack (Bruce Campbell), a young NYPD cop framed for a series of murders, committed by what the press dub as the 'Maniac Cop'. Jack is helped by his vice cop mistress Teresa and seasoned detective McCrae.

Together they discover that the real killer is an ex cop thought dead Matt Cordell, who after being sent to prison gets stabbed to death (or so it is assumed) only to be secretly released brain dead and mangled to his girlfriend on the outside.

This of course leads to the inevitable killing spree with the now mentally deranged killer who can't be killed.

The rest is pretty standard, once the heroes know who the killer is and once the failed attempts to get everyone else to recognise the truth is over they take on the killer themselves. Apparently killing him again even though his body is never recovered.

You even see the killer's hand rear up out of the water at the end. Standard horror bad guy ending.

The whole film has a decidedly moody feel, the attacks mostly happen at night and so most of the film is shot in the dark and with the backgrounds neon lighting really sets the mood. The music is fantastic especially if you like moody eerie pieces and works well with the films tones.

The killers facial injuries do look a little fake and cheesy but to counter this, you do only see his face once, the rest of the time all you see is the silhouette of a large policeman which again just adds to the dark gloomy feel of the movie.

Although there is no gore there are plenty of deaths scenes, none of them really using too many effects so the film doesn't seem that out dated compared to some.

If you're looking for a film with a solid plot, creepy music and gloomy scenes then this is the one for you.

Best phrases/diaglogue:

'What happened to your hand? - 'I cut myself shaving'

'Always take a leak with a gun? It's a good way to blow your balls off!'

Scenes to watch for:

The prison bathroom fight scene.



Sunday 29 July 2012

Up Coming Reviews

Just a short one to let you know what reviews are coming up so far next week.

Maniac Cop (movie)
Alien 2 (movie)
St Peters Wolf (book)
Hellraiser 2 (movie)
Scanners (movie)

If anyone has any suggestions for reviews, just email me or comment below and let me know.

Every Sunday I'll post another list and ask for more suggestions.

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Thanks for reading my posts!

Class of Nuke 'em High 1986

Class of Nuke 'em High (1986)

Contains Spoilers!

Well firstly it's a Troma movie and if you haven't seen one yet maybe you should especially if you like over the top acting, ridiculous cheesy plots and loud scenes and music.
More of a comedy horror than a classic horror, it does have some sex scenes and is over the top gory.

Set in a high school less than a mile away from a nuclear plant we follow young lovers Chrissy and Warren who after being tricked into smoking some radioactive weed, which was sold to their friends by the 'Cretins' a gang of drug pushing radioactive goth punks, start to have strange life like hallucinations about being pregnant and turning into a strange creature.

The effects of the film are extremely cheesy and fake looking, however they are from 1986 and even though they look bad now they are still well done and did have a lot of thought go into them.

Chrissy 'gives birth' to a slimy tadpole creature who after running around the school drains grows into a huge nuclear waste producing creature that lives in the school fallout shelter. Warren who himself turns into a muscular (also nuclear waste producing) mini hulk who skulks around town killing off the Cretins who sold his friends the drug. This is all news to them when they 'wake up'

The creature effects are as you'd expect, cheesy, over the top and very outdated but they are done with humour and the creature design is quite creepy if you can look past all the ooze.

To get their revenge the Cretins take over the school, kidnap Chrissy and just generally run amok, which of course leads to the classic horror tactic of young people running around desperately trying to escape whatever chases them, in this case the Cretins who are in turn being chased and killed by Chrissy's creature. It all ends with the creature killing everything in sight then being blown up by a laser which doesn't just kill the evil creation but also blows up the school.

But it isn't all bad graphics, cheesy scenes and over the top acting, the dialogue is fun, the film has a definite 80's look and feel and the music is loud and catchy.

Overall it's a great comedy with horror elements and definitely worth a watch.

Best phrases/dialogue:

   'It may just be my woman's intuition you guy's but somethings going on!'

'Eggs and spam'

'This is going on your permanent record'

'Holy shit, what is all this green stuff!'

Cheesiest Scene:

The whole sex scene.

Scenes to watch for:

The fist down the throat scene.

People dropping from exposure to radiation and just being stepped over.

The hand through the skull monster scene.




Friday 27 July 2012

Hellraiser 1987

Hellraiser (1987)

Contains spoilers!


If you love your horror's to include dark gloomy music, tolling bells, candlelight and lots of gore scenes then this is for you. With it's classic combination of blood, creepy lighting effects and monsters from hell you won't be disappointed.

Set in England you follow a husband and wife as they move back into his old families house for a new start. Introduce the gorgeous step daughter and we have the beginnings of the film.

Moving into the new family home there is the accident that sets off the entire plot, the husband Larry cuts his hand in a scene that still makes me look away even now! Blood dripping he accidentally revives his evil brother Frank who we do see at the very beginning buying the 'Box' and opening it.

The effects of the film are quite outdated but that's to be expected from 1987 however they are still quite strong visually, Franks reconstruction is still quite creepy even through the old fashioned graphics.

From here the film does start to through out all the gory, bloody and creepy scenes in a steady stream. The wife Julia now realising that her old lover Frank has been resurrected and although he no longer has any skin she is still attracted to him and promises to bring him men to feed on. The step daughter Kirsty realises this and confronts them, finding herself in possession of the famed box. 

Of course this wouldn't be a horror without some sort of monster and this film delivers with not one but four creatures from hell and a floating hell hound, which our heroine releases from the box, bargaining for her life she gives them Frank, however them being from hell and evil they take Frank and then come after her. And this is all after Frank takes Larry's skin for himself. The end see's Kirsty fighting for her life against Julia, Frank (wearing her dads skin) and four monsters.

Although the effects are quite cheesy and outdated Hellraiser still manages to be quite a dark, creepy film. The music is atmospheric and fits well with each scene. The music of the box is a very creepy tinny fairground theme that suits the film completely. The creatures from hell are very well thought out and innovative for the time. There are some very gory scenes for even hard core horror fans to like. There are even some very well shot dream sequences that manage even now to be quite surreal and creepy.

The character progression is well done too, Julia manages to go from squeamish killer to cold blooded bitch seamlessly.

It's a good film to watch and still want to look away at parts.

Best phrases/dialogue:

'The box. You opened it we came'

'We'll tear your soul apart!'

'What's your pleasure, Sir?'

Cheesiest Scene:

The homeless man changing into a dragon and carrying the box away with him at the end.

Scenes to watch for:

Kirsty's boyfriend at the end fighting off the floating hound creature with a milk bottle and getting punched for his efforts.





The Thing 1982

The Thing (1982)

Contains spoilers!


If you are looking for classic knife wielding, running for your life style horror then this isn’t for you, more of a survival horror thriller, The Thing will keep you guessing all the way through.

However it does have some classic horror elements; aliens, gore, and plenty of character deaths.

Set in the Arctic you follow a team of American’s stationed at a science base who quickly find themselves drawn into a life or death situation brought to them from a nearby Norwegian camp, the opening scene is a man shooting at a dog from a helicopter.

After saving the dogs from the obviously mental traumatised Norwegians the Americans carry on life in the middle of nowhere.

However this being a horror and not a documentary you quickly find out there is more than meets the eye about this new addition to their team, the fact that it suddenly splits apart and starts to attack the rest of the teams dogs in a kind of tentacley 80′s graphics kind of way in order to absorb the dogs and make imitations. This process is of course stopped by the team and them being scientists and they are clever enough to realise what the alien/dog was up to.

From this moment on it’s a downward spiral of suspense and paranoia as everyone realises that the person next to them might not be them any more.

The effects of the alien and it’s imitation process is quite cheesy and old but you can see that at the time it would have been seen as quite creepy but it isn’t the effects that make this horror so good, its tense and very atmospheric right from the beginning, the scenes make you aware from the start that you are isolated, the musical score is fantastic and keeps up with the feeling of suspense and isolation. The cast is well picked with Kurt Russell being the unwilling yet cool headed hero, the dialogue from the rest of the cast is well thought out and flows quite nicely, something not all horror movies get. There are no women for any of the team to fall in love with and bore you with love scenes that take you away from the action, it’s slow to get started but once there the action never stops.

Other than the outdated effects The Thing still stands up now, even leaving you with an ending where your not sure even then that the survivors are human or not without being a cliffhanger.

It’s a great film to watch (or re-watch) and still get a good horror.

Best phrases/dialogues:

‘I don’t know what it is but it’s weird and pissed off whatever it is!’

Creepiest Scene: 

When all members of the science team are all stood around the imitation Bennings who is knelt down in the snow, not fully formed, howling eerily in the night.

Scenes to watch for:

A severed head suddenly growing spiders legs and antlers scuttling around the floor.

The fingers through the face scene.



Welcome to Chiller Flicks

I love a good movie, I especially love a good horror movie, it’s the same with books, horrors are my thing! So when a new one comes out I’m there, weird, gorey, cheesy it doesn’t matter. But lately it seems we have less horror in our stories/films and more talking, emotions and underlying social plot points!

The films I grew up with from the 80′s and 90′s were better and I’m not talking about graphics here (of course the ones now are fancier!) but in lots of different ways, they are cheesier, they tend to have more gore, less talking or at least serious talking, less romance subplots and most of all they are much more rewatchable.

It’s the same with horror books. Nowadays your more likely to get a romantic story with werewolves and vampires getting it on with everyone and then some but back in the 80′s and 90′s they were still seen as monsters and could be terrifing rather than sickly sweet!

And this is where I come in, over the coming months I’m going to review horror films and books from the 80′s and 90′s. And maybe we can show everyone that we don’t want to fall in love with our monsters but cower behind the couch in the vain hope they can’t see us!!

If you would like me to review a specific book or film email me with the name and I’ll find a copy and watch it.