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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 22h

Well ... every now and then, there's a film that just lands. That was incredible.

And jeez, Amy Madigan??? Wow!

I'm shaking.

The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

And it starts with a George Harrison song I don't know, the very apt Beware of Darkness.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Changed plans for this eve, so I'm going in on a big new film. Weapons (2025)!

Title card "Weapons" with a triangle inside the letter "O".

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

That was my second thought. After wishing I'd bought wine.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

I always thought it was just a Feral Youth film (the violent attack early on is still shocking) but I wasn't expecting the plot swerve in a completely different direction. Part Midwich, part Prisoner, with a climax as chilling as Hammer's Quatermass and the Pit. Really pleased to be surprised.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Well... that's a bit bleak, innit?!
Weirdly, I thought the final shot was the same location as Destiny of the Daleks. It's not, but it's only a few miles away in the same county.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

The film features a pop song, "Black Leather Rock", written by James Bernard. It's about five years out of fashion, but Bernard wants it to catch on and keeps quoting it as a leitmotif.
youtu.be/3T3Tvwdobi8?...

Black Leather Rock (from The Damned film 1963)

YouTube video by Ian Nisbet

youtu.be

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Blimey, Viveca Lindfors, who I only know as a terrifying old lady in The Exorcist III.

Viveca Lindfors sits at a window overlooking the Weymouth seafront.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Afternoon #SHOCKtober and it's a rare treat to watch a Hammer I've not seen before, These Are The Damned (1962).

A clif llooking down to the sea with the caption These Are The Damned

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

We all need a friend who can prioritise.

A woman looks at a body under a shroud and tells her assistant "bring the wine".

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

He's a little more human- looking this time.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Well, I'm confused. This appears to be a sequel to The Werewolf and the Yeti, released three years later, after two other Wolfman films!

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Ah go on. One more Paul Naschy, the next in his werewolf series, The Fury of the Wolfman (1972).

Text across a road, translating as The Fury of the Wolfman

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 1d

Oops forgot the title card

The Caption The Devils over the face of a man wearing makeup and elaborate clothes.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 2d

Another famous film I've never seen - Ken Russell's The Devils (1971). A #SHOCKtober entry that feels so transgressive

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 2d

So the first surprise was whose island it was. Then I realised, I know how to describe something as "like Dr Moreau" without ever having seen the story in any direct adaptation. Structurally a bit like Freaks.

The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 2d

Afternoon #SHOCKtober is a Paramount feature, The Island of Lost Souls (1932) inspired by a story by HG Wells. Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi!

Title card Island of Lost Souls
With Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi and The Panther Women
Directed by Erle C Kenton

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 2d

#SHOCKtober catch-up - was out to see Tron: Ares last eve so I only managed to watch a short Universal later - The Mad Ghoul is disappointing but it has one very nice final shot.

Title card Universal Presents The Mad Ghoul

The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 5d

When I got my second COVID vaccine, the nurse was looking tired and stressed. Checking on any reactions to the previous jab, she asked me "How was your head?"
Without thinking, I said "No complaints so far" - and then panicked. Luckily, her sudden laugh filled the sports centre hall.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 5d

Tod Browning directs a vampire story with Bela Lugosi but for MGM - Mark of the Vampire (1935) feels like a megamix of the previous four years of horror cinema. #SHOCKtober

Title card: Lionel Barrymore in Mark of the Vampire

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 6d

That gets odd all of a sudden and then an actor from Dr Who shows up with his knob out. Blimey - I can see why Jo Grant ran off with him now...

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 6d

This scene is overdubbed. The character says "Go to hell" but the hand gesture perhaps reveals what the original line was.

A man lurks around a corner while another man down the corridor flicks two fingers up.

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 6d

Forgot to tag this #SHOCKtober. I can see why Kermode disliked it; there's no real reason to tie it to a real-life incident or to Annabelle. It's well-done though.

The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 6d

Next for #SHOCKtober, The Flesh and Blood Show (1972). I don't know anything g except the cast...

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The Jim Reaper @monstermaker.bsky.social · 6d

Working through a bit more of the Conjuringverse with Wolves at the Door (2017), tangentially a prequel to Annabelle thanks to a shared character / actor but otherwise a Manson-inspired home invasion thriller that Mark Kermode really hated.
youtu.be/IuqSarxR9KM?...

A scary figure stands in shadow at the end of a corridor.

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