Poché Pictures

If Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust was the full-course meal of exploitation cinema, Ultimo mondo cannibale is the half-cooked appetizer—served lukewarm, covered in flies, and possibly still twitching. Billed as “Last Cannibal World” for English-speaking suckers, this is less a movie and more a 90-minute mosquito bite that gets infected. Plot? Sure, If You Can Call … Read More “Ultimo mondo cannibale (1977)” »

If you’ve ever thought, “What my holiday fruit basket really needs is a little venom,” then Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargois your kind of Christmas movie. CBS aired this gem right after the nation finished its eggnog, because nothing says “Season’s Greetings” like banana spiders crawling into your orange juice supply. A Plot So Ripely Absurd … Read More “Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977)” »

If you’ve ever wanted to see Carrie’s telekinetic high school meltdown reimagined as a made-for-TV movie where polyester slacks outnumber scares, The Spell is your ticket to paranormal petty revenge. Telekinesis: Now Available in Prime Time We open with poor Rita Matchett—15 years old, overweight, and cursed with classmates whose cruelty levels are only rivaled … Read More “The Spell (1977)” »

If you’ve ever dreamed of combining the elegance of Peter Cushing, the weathered gravitas of John Carradine, and the shambling menace of Nazi zombies who apparently have nothing better to do than wade slowly toward you through waist-deep water—Shock Waves is your oddly specific wish come true. The Only Thing Worse Than Nazis? Nazis Who … Read More “Shock Waves (1977)” »

If you’ve ever wondered what The Exorcist would look like after being left in a swamp for a decade, then baked under the Florida sun next to a popcorn machine, Ruby is your answer. This supernatural mobster-meets-demonic-possession oddity takes place in 1951 but feels like it was filmed in a time warp where pacing, tone, … Read More “Ruby (1977)” »

If The Exorcist was a fine steak dinner paired with an expensive wine, The Possessed is the cold plate of leftover mystery meat your aunt reheats in a microwave that hasn’t been cleaned since Nixon was in office. Billed as a supernatural horror TV event, this 74-minute NBC “pilot” limps along like it’s auditioning for … Read More “The Possessed (1977)” »

There’s bad cinema, and then there’s The Mighty Peking Man—a movie that manages to make both King Kong and the Shaw Brothers look like they’re slumming it. This 1977 Hong Kong knockoff was designed to cash in on the buzz from the 1976 King Kong remake, but instead of riding the wave, it trips, faceplants, … Read More “The Mighty Peking Man (1977)” »

Don Taylor’s The Island of Dr. Moreau is that rare beast: a mid-’70s studio horror movie that manages to be both earnest and unhinged, elegant and sweaty, classy enough to star Burt Lancaster yet trashy enough to feature a Hyena-Man getting brained with a broken oar. Think of it as Masterpiece Theatre taking a weekend … Read More “The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)” »

If there’s one thing Empire of the Ants proves, it’s that H.G. Wells probably spun in his grave so hard in 1977 that he bored a tunnel straight to Australia. Loosely—so loosely it’s basically falling off the hanger—based on Wells’ short story, Bert I. Gordon’s mutant-ant fiasco plays like a cheap creature feature that somehow … Read More “Empire of the Ants (1977)” »

Some films demand to be taken seriously. Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is not one of them. And yet, somehow, in the warped little pocket universe it occupies, George Barry’s only cinematic effort becomes—against all common sense—strangely hypnotic. This is not just a bad-movie curiosity. It’s surrealist folk horror on a shoestring, a cracked … Read More “Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977)” »