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Twins of Evil (1971)
7.4
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A religious sect led by Gustav Weil hunts all women suspected of witchcraft, killing a number of...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hammer House of Horror in TV
Mar 15, 2018 (Updated Mar 15, 2018)
Last-gasp attempt by the famous film studio to stay solvent is a fairly decent stab at a horror anthology show, featuring some of Hammer's regular personnel (though not Christopher Lee, as he was in the States at the time).
The fact the show was made for a commercial British network inevitably means the horror content is somewhat constrained, and the low budget means the episodes have a contemporary setting quite unlike the archetypal Hammer films (then again, Amicus House of Horror wouldn't have been as catchy a title). This being an anthology show, the quality and tone of the episodes is inevitably all over the place: some of them are rather subtle and inventive, others are predictable nonsense. Some good performances, though, including many from the before-they-were-famous file - a 27-year-old Pierce Brosnan gets one of his first speaking roles as 'Last Victim' in the Carpathian Eagle episode. As a whole, the series is probably more of a curiosity for Hammer completists than anything else.
The fact the show was made for a commercial British network inevitably means the horror content is somewhat constrained, and the low budget means the episodes have a contemporary setting quite unlike the archetypal Hammer films (then again, Amicus House of Horror wouldn't have been as catchy a title). This being an anthology show, the quality and tone of the episodes is inevitably all over the place: some of them are rather subtle and inventive, others are predictable nonsense. Some good performances, though, including many from the before-they-were-famous file - a 27-year-old Pierce Brosnan gets one of his first speaking roles as 'Last Victim' in the Carpathian Eagle episode. As a whole, the series is probably more of a curiosity for Hammer completists than anything else.
Vampire Circus (1972)
7.0
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Late-period Hammer horror movie, released on a double-bill with Countess Dracula. When the townsfolk...
Hammer Horror
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Devil-Ship Pirates (1964) in Movies
Feb 10, 2019 (Updated Feb 10, 2019)
Hammer swashbuckler is an odd mixture of the colourful and the stodgy; shipload of dodgy Spanish types fleeing the defeat of the Armada pitch up in Cornwall and try to persuade the isolated local villagers that their side won, so they can get help fixing their ship.
Christopher Lee and a bunch of other Hammer rep stalwarts go through the motions professionally enough, though this isn't strictly speaking a horror movie (much talk of floggings, hangings, and tongues being cut out, though) - the 'village under foreign occupation' theme gives it the feel of a Second World War movie, weirdly enough. Decent sword fights, quite good production values - in the end it passes the time agreeably enough.
Christopher Lee and a bunch of other Hammer rep stalwarts go through the motions professionally enough, though this isn't strictly speaking a horror movie (much talk of floggings, hangings, and tongues being cut out, though) - the 'village under foreign occupation' theme gives it the feel of a Second World War movie, weirdly enough. Decent sword fights, quite good production values - in the end it passes the time agreeably enough.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) in Movies
Feb 15, 2018 (Updated Feb 15, 2018)
Mmmm, Blood of Dracula
Superior Hammer horror movie. Victorian hypocrites looking for naughty kicks get mixed up with one of Dracula's disciples, inadvertently bring him back. Dracula is not grateful and uses their own children to get them.
Usual strong Hammer cast, polished production values, lush James Bernard score - topical (for the time) subtext about the generation gap, and the depiction of Dracula as an avenging angel of darkness is an interesting new twist on a character who seemed in danger of running out of things to do. Dracula was originally supposed to be reincarnated as Ralph Bates, but the distributors insisted they get Lee back, much against his will as usual.
Usual strong Hammer cast, polished production values, lush James Bernard score - topical (for the time) subtext about the generation gap, and the depiction of Dracula as an avenging angel of darkness is an interesting new twist on a character who seemed in danger of running out of things to do. Dracula was originally supposed to be reincarnated as Ralph Bates, but the distributors insisted they get Lee back, much against his will as usual.
Tim Burton recommended Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) in Movies (curated)
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
7.0
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Contemporary updating of Hammer's Dracula series, inspired by American International's Count Yorga...
Dracula
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hands of the Ripper (1971) in Movies
May 27, 2018 (Updated May 27, 2018)
Bring the Daughter; Have some Slaughter
Pretty decent Hammer horror melodrama set in a sort of grab-bag version of late Victorian London. Anna (Rees) grows up an orphan, little suspecting the identity of her father, or the fact that she seems to have inherited his compulsion to kill. An ambitious psychiatrist (Porter) takes her under his wing, believing he can help her with her little problem. (As ever, hubris comes before a gory comeuppance.) Meanwhile, Hammer whips up gallons of fake blood.
Not-bad production values and decent performances go a long way to make up for some fairly preposterous plotting; you get the classic Hammer sense of a traditional costume drama coupling energetically with a disreputable exploitation movie, with a good time had by all. On the one hand this is another tale of an improbably arrogant man whose specific area of brilliance doesn't stop him making a whole series of insanely bad decisions; on the other it is about the power of men to seriously screw up the lives of women in patriarchal societies (so perhaps still somewhat relevant). Film does an interesting little dance, too: are Anna's problems purely psychological or is she genuinely possessed by the spirit of the Ripper? Well put together, some interesting ideas, doesn't outstay its welcome - definitely worth a look if old British horror movies are your thing.
Not-bad production values and decent performances go a long way to make up for some fairly preposterous plotting; you get the classic Hammer sense of a traditional costume drama coupling energetically with a disreputable exploitation movie, with a good time had by all. On the one hand this is another tale of an improbably arrogant man whose specific area of brilliance doesn't stop him making a whole series of insanely bad decisions; on the other it is about the power of men to seriously screw up the lives of women in patriarchal societies (so perhaps still somewhat relevant). Film does an interesting little dance, too: are Anna's problems purely psychological or is she genuinely possessed by the spirit of the Ripper? Well put together, some interesting ideas, doesn't outstay its welcome - definitely worth a look if old British horror movies are your thing.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Straight On Till Morning (1972) in Movies
Mar 8, 2021
Rather atypical Hammer psycho-horror is much stronger on dour naturalism than the usual gothic fantasy. A slightly unstable young woman moves to present-day London in search of her dreams and winds up moving in with a handsome serial killer (late-period Hammer star Shane Briant, in his first film for the company). Things eventually get a bit fraught.
It would be nice to think the change in style was the result of a decision by Hammer to experiment, but the fact the film was clearly made on a punishingly low budget suggests otherwise: the reason it's largely a two-hander, mostly taking place in a single flat, is presumably simply to keep production costs down. The atmosphere throughout is dingy and a bit grim; appalling early-70s fashion doesn't help much. There's a conceit about Peter Pan which is never really resolved (hence the title); the film's most distinctive feature is the editing, which is jarring, almost subliminal, and gets rather annoying very quickly. Good performances from the leads, I suppose, but this doesn't make up for the fact the story is implausible, uninvolving, and doesn't really go anywhere.
It would be nice to think the change in style was the result of a decision by Hammer to experiment, but the fact the film was clearly made on a punishingly low budget suggests otherwise: the reason it's largely a two-hander, mostly taking place in a single flat, is presumably simply to keep production costs down. The atmosphere throughout is dingy and a bit grim; appalling early-70s fashion doesn't help much. There's a conceit about Peter Pan which is never really resolved (hence the title); the film's most distinctive feature is the editing, which is jarring, almost subliminal, and gets rather annoying very quickly. Good performances from the leads, I suppose, but this doesn't make up for the fact the story is implausible, uninvolving, and doesn't really go anywhere.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Wounds (2019) in Movies
Feb 22, 2020
Unsettling but confused
This is the kind of horror film I usually enjoy. Something atmospheric, creepy and a little unusual, without the need to go over the top on horrific CGI or predictable jump scares. Wounds succeeds with this and the horror scenes are enjoyably creepy and unsettling. The problem is pretty much the rest of the film.
Armie Hammer and Zazie Beetz are very good, and when they're on screen together they're great, but the rest of the cast are left with little to work with and Dakota Johnson's character is a complete waste of space. The main issue is that the plot is rather weird, which would be fine if there was a decent explanation at the end but the ending is severely lacking and makes for a lot of confusion. The tone of the film also feels more like a drama with a bit of horror thrown in rather than a full on horror - with a little less of the drama and a little more exposition this might have been a decent film.
Armie Hammer and Zazie Beetz are very good, and when they're on screen together they're great, but the rest of the cast are left with little to work with and Dakota Johnson's character is a complete waste of space. The main issue is that the plot is rather weird, which would be fine if there was a decent explanation at the end but the ending is severely lacking and makes for a lot of confusion. The tone of the film also feels more like a drama with a bit of horror thrown in rather than a full on horror - with a little less of the drama and a little more exposition this might have been a decent film.