Wieland
Book
Penned by the skilful hand of Charles Brockden Brown, Wieland was one of the first American Gothic...
The Call of Cthulhu: And Other Weird Stories
Book
Collecting uniquely uncanny tales from the master of American horror, H.P. Lovecraft's The Call of...
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) in Movies
Feb 9, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)
On one level this does sound like the broadest kind of exploitative schlock, and it's true that the monster suit at the end is utterly crapulous, but this does not take into account the disturbingly dreamy atmosphere conjured up by director Haggard and Marc Wilkinson's score. There's a touch of the genuine gothic in the way something ancient and disturbing erupts into a quietly bucolic world.
Plus, there is a hard edge of gleeful nastiness to this film which is wholly lacking from the movies being made by Tigon's better-known rivals at Hammer and Amicus during the same period. There's a sense in which most Hammer movies feel like costume dramas with a little blood included as a contractual obligation, but Blood on Satan's Claw goes all-out to mess the viewer up - it's not especially frightening as such, but it's a very unsettling, creepy movie that's a worthy successor to an ancient English tradition of supernatural horror stories.
Rachel (2 KP) rated Supernatural in TV
Nov 6, 2017 (Updated Nov 6, 2017)
An episode to highlight would be when Sam and Dean face off against Famine, one of the four horses of the apocalypse.
Grab a canister of Morton Salt, a piece of pie and a blanket to snuggle in and enjoy the inside jokes!
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Legend of Hell House (1973) in Movies
Mar 21, 2020
Understated, almost pseudo-documentary atmosphere works in the film's favour; the actors also know to underplay it until the big histrionics are required. Unsettling soundtrack by radiophonic genii Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson is a major plus. The script goes a bit nuts towards the end (don't think too hard about the plot) but the journey to get to this point is more than worthwhile.
Shadows on the Wall: Weird Tales of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and the Supernatural
8.0
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Book
Shadows on the Wall contains the very best of Paulsen's dark and weird tales, plus stunning new...
Steven IFWG Australian Short Stories Dark Twisted
The Frighteners (1996)
8.2
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Movie
Once an architect, Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) now passes himself off as an exorcist of evil...
The Gorgon and other Beastly Tales (Monsters, Men, and Mythic Maidens)
8.0
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Book
The Gorgon, a brilliant shocker that leads off this scintillating new collection of Tanith Lee's...
Mercy Black (2019)
4.3
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Movie
Marina Hess (Pineda) is finally being released from the psychiatric facility that she has lived in...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Suspiria (1977) in Movies
Dec 29, 2020
The lighting, colours, and camerawork are all phenomenal. Throw them together, and you get one of the most visually striking horrors ever made.
It has excellent pacing - the opening ten minutes are incredibly intense, and culminate in a truly iconic horror cinema kill. The vast majority of what follows is a slower build up of plot, but in true Giallo fashion, keeps a sturdy mystery going for the whole time. The climax of the film ramps everything up again, as things take a supernatural turn, providing the audience with a solid reveal, disturbing imagery, and a decent helping of blood, all the while being backed by an absurd soundtrack courtesy of Italian prog band Goblin. The music goes from being enchanting, to downright jarring at the click of a finger, and just adds to Suspria's otherworldliness in spades.
Some memorable performances from the likes of Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Alida Valli and Joan Bennett also help in elevating this movie to horror greatness.
Suspiria is one of those films that you must see before you die. Horror at its weird, sense-assaulting best!