Sebastian Bendix's Blog, page 12

10/16/14 – day sixteen of 31 days of horror!

"I don’t wanna be buried in a Pet Sematary. I don’t want to live my life again." Have truer words ever been sung? There are Stephen King stories and adaptations that get more fanfare, but I have always enjoyed the straightforward and genuinely scary premise behind this one — no greasers or sentient appliances needed — and the movie, effectively directed by Mary Lambert, delivers. There are several scenes here that you won’t soon shake off (Zelda anyone?) and if you haven’t seen it in a while, it’s well-worth a revisit. Today’s pick, the touching story of a boy and his pet kitty.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098084/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/15/14 – day fifteen of 31 days of horror!

This is a bit of a cheat as it was a 70’s TV miniseries, but having recently been told “Dracula Untold”, I feel compelled (by Dracula) to share my favorite version of the Bram Stoker tale. This one stars a delightfully oily Louis Jordan as the Count, and though the production values are on par with BBC genre TV of the time, the shocking scenes of violence and over-all classiness edge this over the Frank Langella 70’s Drac and even the lush and expensive Coppola version. Today’s pick: “Count Dracula”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075882/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

10/14/14 – day fourteen of 31 days of horror!

Back to the early 70’s for another creepy slow-burn from the director who would later go on to give us the cinematic masterwork “Howard the Duck”. This brown-acid flashback of a movie is sort of a west coast companion piece to “Let’s Scare Jessica To Death” in that is a woman’s descent into hippy-era madness, but this one offers more startling, visceral shocks and boasts a scene that will change your supermarket shopping habits forever. Today’s pick : “Messiah of Evil”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071396/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/13/14 – day thirteen of 31 days of horror!

The causal horror viewer probably remembers this from the early 90’s and dismisses it as just another slasher film, but in truth the movie has a lot more going on than appears at first glance. Inarguably the strongest and creepiest of the “urban” horror subgenre, the film deftly balances the mythic with the real thanks to Bernard Rose’s sure-handed direction and the solid jumping-off point of Clive Barker’s story. Great performances by Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd and a haunting Philip Glass score don’t hurt either. Today’s pick…Candyman Candyman Candyman Candyman “Candyman”!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103919/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/12/14 – day twelve of 31 days of horror!

Everyone has that seminal movie that scared the crap out of them when they were a young kid, and this one is mine.This used to come up regularly on “Creature Double Feature”, a Saturday afternoon block of programming that ran on channel 56 in Boston. Whenever this particular film would come on I would cower in terror but inevitably watch it from beginning to end, and many sunny Saturday afternoons were ignored so I could re-experience that delicious tingle of pure terror. Of course, like most kindertraumas, the movie is pretty goofy in the cold light of adulthood, but I still love it for making me a horror fan. Today’s pick: “The Screaming Skull” !
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052169/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/11/14 – day eleven of 31 days of horror!

A gore-soaked, dream-logic masterpiece, today’s pick is my favorite of Lucio Fulci’s films and, fun fact, was enjoyed by Jennifer Yarbrough and I on our first real date! Nothing says romance like the undead emerging from a nightmare dimension to make our world a blood-drenched living hell, right? If you look for air-tight logic in your horror films this may not be the one for you, but if you enjoy unforgettably horrible imagery and unsettling, unrelenting dread, you may wish to journey into “The Beyond”!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082307/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/10/14 – day ten of 31 days of horror!

Forget Freddy Krueger (OK, not really, Freddy is cool), this movie is the real nightmare and stars a real burn victim as the maniacal lead! The great Richard Lynch is a Mansonesque cult leader that returns from the dead to torment one of the grown members (Jennifer Rubin, also of Elm Street fame) of his flock. Also featuring Dean Cameron and Bruce Abbott, this late 80’s shocker was lost in the shuffle at the time of release, but is ripe fodder for your new nightmares. Today’s pick: “Bad Dreams”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094701/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/9/14 – day nine of 31 days of horror!

You can’t have a month of horror without vampires, so why not double-down with this double-D classic from 1971? Starring the great Peter Cushing as a Puritan at war with a Satanic (is there any other kind?) vampire cult, the film is dripping with Gothic atmosphere and features boobs and a deliciously villainous performance by Damien Thomas. Did I mention the boobs? Today’s pick, my favorite Hammer film, “Twins of Evil”! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069427/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

10/8/14 – day eight of 31 days of horror!

Lovecraft meets Stephen King in this grim morality play that was largely ignored upon its release. Expertly directed by Frank Darabont and anchored by a strong cast, this movie has more to say about the fragile human condition than most dramas. I recommend the black and white version as it invokes the classic horror cinema of the 40’s and 50’s and covers up some slightly dodgy effects. Today’s pick, “The Mist”. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884328/?ref_=nv_sr_1

10/7/14 – day seven of 31 days of horror!

Back to the 70’s for an obscure little flick that is a strange combination of “Night of the Living Dead” and “Alice in Wonderland.” It features a strong central performance from Cheryl “Rainbeaux” Smith who would sadly become a casualty of post-punk Hollywood drug culture. Visually inventive and uniquely unsettling, this one will stick with you long after it’s over. Today’s pick: “Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural” aka “Lady Dracula”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070300/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2