Week five and the weariness is beginning to set in. Thank goodness I found a couple of gems in the films covered this week. Unfortunately, the new reboot of Hellraiser isn’t one of them, as the film despite some great Cenobites drags like a limp dog for 3/4 of its runtime. That being said, it’s still a better ride than the extremely lo-fi 70s science fiction horror of The Alpha Incident, which I was only able to watch on YouTube. Things get infinitely better from there, with The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Woman giving off some serious giallo vibes courtesy of the guy behind all the Gamera monster films. Then we tackle the requisite Tobe Hooper film with his massive homage to Hammer and Quatermass with the bonkers (in the best possible way ) Lifeforce before really coming down to Earth with the completely inert remake of Firestarter.
As always you can read the full reviews over at Cinema Dual. In the meantime, smoke ’em if you got ’em…
—
Billionaire Roland Voight has experienced it all…and with the help of a certain infernal puzzle box he’s determined to experience more. Six years later recovering addict Riley and her boyfriend Trevor discover the puzzle box, and also discover that horrifying results that come with manipulating it. Can Rely find out what happened to her brother who mysteriously vanished? Can she stop her friends from suffering the same fate? And what does all of this have to do with Voight, his abandoned mansion, and the mysterious Hell Priest with the pins in its head appearing to Riley?
(full review here)
When a space probe from Mars returns to Earth, the scientists have a field day studying the mysterious organism brought back. Due to its volatile nature, they of course decider the best course of action is to transport it via overnight train up north to a hidden base, with only a study biologist to oversee it. Well, before you know it a clumsy train hand breaks lens of the bottles thinking it’s just medicine and soon a small train station and its five people are put under quarantine. And they can’t call asleep because, you see, this pesky space organism will make your head explode the second you close…your…eyes…
(full review here)
When young orphan Sayuri learns her parents have come back to claim her she’s overjoyed: finally, a family! Her father informs her that her mother may act a little weird, owing to an accident a few months back that’s robbed her of much of her memory. That’s okay, because Sayuri is determined to make this work. That’s going to be hard though, what with the mysterious person living in the attic, and the murder by tossed snake of the maid from the just as mysterious person with a scaly hand. Who is the weird and nasty Tamami, and if she truly is Sayuri’s sister as claimed by her mother and the maid Mrs. Shige, why must she be kept a secret from the father? As Sayuri digs deeper into the mystery the Silver-Haired is there to stop her meddling…and she’ll go to any lengths to do it!
(full review here)
The shuttle Churchill launches into space to study Hally’s comet. In the tail of the comet they find a massive spaceship and – even stranger – they find three beautiful and quite naked people encased in transparent sarcophaguses. When the Churchill suddenly goes radio silent a rescue is made, only to find a burned out husk of a ship, the crew all dead, but those naked bodies still perfectly preserved. Brought to Earth for study, the scientists at the European Space Research Center in London wake up an ancient unearthly terror that threatens to engulf the entire world. Only SAS Colonel Caine and returned American astronaut Tom Carlsen (who managed to survive the Churchill thanks to an escape pod) can stop the apocalypse brought about by the three beautiful, naked…SPACE VAMPIRES!
(full review here)
Andy and Vicki McGee, victims of secret government tests involving a mysterious compound called “Lot Six” and the resultant psychic powers it bestows, are on the run with their young daughter Charlie. Turns out Charlies inherited her folks powers as well as the ability to start fires, hence the name of the book and the movie! And guess what! The government wants them back to pry the secrets of Charlie’s powers for their own nefarious use, even though that one lady from ER swears it ain’t so! What will happen? Will Charlie learn to control her powers? Is the character of Rainbird still racist now that it’s not played by William C. Scott? Does any of this matter when the film feels like it’s just running through the motions? WHO CAN TELL?!
(full review here)
—
Next week we’re getting buggy with Guillermo del Toro, enduring a truly awful sequel to a minor fantasy horror hit (“NILBOG!”), checking out a creepy atmospheric witch film and getting some more Hammer in. We’re closing in on the end, folks!
Until then. keep it Blood Red.
-Chris
Nine Circles 