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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cheesy B movie goodness, March 31, 2004
This is the 5th Brentwood 10-movie set that I have purchased. This one had the best overall picture quality, and I will probably watch 8 out of the 10 again, which is pretty good for a bunch of B movies. Don't be fooled by the cover: there are no movies about mummies in this set. Also, the box said it included Psychomania but the one I got had a movie called Shiver instead. Now I will attempt to rank the movies from worst to best:(10) Project: Vampire. I deeply apologize to the people involved with this movie for ranking it last, because it's not really that bad. It looks like something that was made for the Sci-Fi Channel. The acting was pretty decent; I just didn't find the movie that interesting. It was talky and not cheesy enough to be fun. (9) Anatomy of a Psycho. Black & white J.D. movie, nothing horrific or suspenseful about it at all. It's about a guy whose brother is on death row who seems to be headed in the same direction. It's not that bad, there's some funny rebellious dialogue; I would think that fans of old crime films might like it. (8) Shiver. This movie was full of loose ends and seemed like several different movies thrown together. Nothing made much sense. Therefore, I wasn't surprised when the end credits rolled and there were three different directors listed. It's about a satanic cult led by the Devil himself, and there are some weird and unintentionally funny scenes. You get Nazis, disco dancing, the Devil, a snakelike creature, and a couple murderous Indians with tomahawks. Horror stew, anyone? The worst thing about this movie was that a couple violent scenes looked like they were cut. With the terrible editing it was hard to tell. So bad that it approached Ed Wood proportions, so at least it was entertaining. (7) The Passing. 70's movie that I wouldn't describe as horror, more like an indie film crossed with weird sci-fi. The main characters are two old men who move in together after one's wife dies. These two do not seem like professional actors, which makes some of their scenes effective and realistic. Early on there are a couple fairly shocking scenes, it gets pretty slow in the middle, and near the end there is a totally whacked out part that comes off as a 70's acid trip. I was pretty impressed with this film until the ending, which was abrupt and predictable. It was like they ran out of ideas and couldn't figure out how to end it. (6) Beyond Evil. B-movie regulars Lynda Day George and John Saxon play a newlywed couple who move into a haunted house. Lynda becomes possessed by the spirit of the woman who haunts the house. It's hilarious cheesy trash all the way. Lynda really shows her lack of acting skills. The dialogue is great, for example, the recently-possessed Lynda: "I just feel like the real me took off somewhere and left a yeccchh in its place." Lots of fun. (5) Maniac. B & W 1934 movie directed by Dwain Esper, better known for his movies Marihuana and Reefer Madness. It's basically about a scientist and his assistant who try to raise the dead, but gets weirder from there. There's some pretty shocking scenes for 1934, including a topless scene! Apparently this was a "roadshow" movie that got away with stuff since it was passed off as an educational film. Every so often there are titles stuck in that attempt to explain psychological matters like psychosis and manic depression; they have very little to do with the film. It's less than an hour long, and contains the great line, "Rats eating cats...well that is news!" In my opinion, the early scenes where they try to raise the dead look like they could have influenced Re-Animator. (4) Back From Hell. Early 90's film that you will either love or hate. I loved it. Jack is a Hollywood actor who sold his soul to the Devil and then decides to go back on his word. He is pursued by a bunch of Satanic cultists, so he decides to call his childhood friend Aaron (now a priest) for help. The minimal story is all explained early in the movie, so the viewer gets to enjoy nonstop violence for the rest of the film. The actor who plays Jack is terrible, which adds to the fun: "There's nothing to worry about. I'm simply trapping the spirit of the Devil in the corpse in front of us." He delivers his lines like he is reading a grocery list. As a gore fan, I was impressed with this no-budget effort. (3) The Killing Kind. Creepy 70's movie about a young man and his Oedipal relationship with his possessive mother, who runs a boarding house. A pre-"Laverne & Shirley" Cindy Williams plays one of the boarders, and actually looks pretty hot! The opening scene is pretty disturbing, and the main actors turn in strong performances. Includes one of the strangest dream sequences I've seen. (2) Horror Express. Set in the early 1900's, this British/Spanish co-production stars Christopher Lee as a scientist who is transporting a frozen creature on a train. The creature, who looks like a cross between a rotten corpse and an ape, thaws out and the fun begins. You really can't go wrong with anything starring both Lee and Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas pops in at the end. Classic stuff. (1) The Sadist. "Surely blowing my head off can't give you a thrill!" Three teachers have car trouble on their way to a Dodger game, and are terrorized by a psycho and his girlfriend. Black & white film from 1963 features Arch Hall, Jr. who turns in a good performance as the borderline-retarded psycho. Not horror, but entertaining exploitation. To sum up, I recommend Ancient Evil to anyone who enjoys B movies. And if you get scared, just remember this line from Beyond Evil: "Blood always makes things look a lot worse than they really are." Hee hee!
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