In the shadowy corridors of British gothic horror, The Creeping Flesh creeps with dignity, delirium, and the kind of classic flair that made Hammer-esque horror so beloved. Directed by Freddie Francis and starring the legendary Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, this 1973 oddity is a tale of science, madness, and—yes—a finger that just won’t stay … Read More “The Creeping Flesh (1973) “Victorian Madness, Cushing and Lee, and One Hell of a Finger”” »
In the pantheon of religiously repressed horror films, A Candle for the Devil squats somewhere between a Hallmark Channel true crime re-enactment and a soggy Giallo you found floating in your grandmother’s wine cellar. It’s a movie that wants to be a cautionary tale about moral hypocrisy but ends up being 83 minutes of petticoat … Read More “A Candle for the Devil (1973) “Thou Shalt Not Bore Thy Audience”” »
In the race to ride the coattails of Blacula’s modest success, 1973’s Blackenstein emerged like a shambling, stitched-together afterthought — the cinematic equivalent of a failed 8th-grade science fair project reanimated by static cling and bad intentions. It’s a film that boldly asks, “What if Frankenstein’s monster were Black?” — and then forgets to ask … Read More “Blackenstein (1973) “It’s Alive!” — Unfortunately” »
If you ever wanted to be personally menaced by a disembodied hand, ravished by a ghost, and tormented by the sins of long-dead ancestors all while sipping tea in a crumbling English manor, And Now the Screaming Starts! is your twisted invitation. Amicus Productions — best known for its anthology horror — dared to go … Read More “And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) A Gothic Grand Guignol with Class, Curse, and Cushing” »
Curtis Harrington’s Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? is one of those films that elegantly straddles the line between Gothic horror and unhinged melodrama — and then gleefully falls face-first into a rotting fruitcake of psycho-biddy spectacle. Wrapped in a Victorian ribbon of Hansel and Gretel inspiration, and festooned with Shelley Winters at her most magnificently unhinged, … Read More “Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971) A Twisted Fairy Tale with Frightful Flair” »
Here’s the thing about What Became of Jack and Jill? — you can’t even call it a slow burn, because that would imply there’s eventually a fire. This 1972 British psychological “horror” film — and I’m using the term out of pity — attempts to blend generational warfare with suspense, but winds up as a … Read More “What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972) “A grim fairy tale without the wit, and a horror film without the horror.”” »
When the traveling freak show rolls into a plague-ridden Serbian village in Vampire Circus, it doesn’t bring elephants or lion tamers — it brings death, seduction, and centuries-old vengeance in crimson velvet. Directed with verve by Robert Young and produced by Hammer Films during the final stretch of their golden age, this 1972 horror gem … Read More “Vampire Circus (1972) “The greatest show on Earth is blood-soaked, sensual, and shockingly poetic.”” »
If George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead raised the dead, Tombs of the Blind Dead made them ride horses, chant in Gregorian menace, and usher in an era of stylish, necrotic doom cloaked in Iberian fog. Amando de Ossorio’s 1972 horror opus is more than a spooky cult film — it’s a ghoulish, … Read More “Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) “Where the dead ride at night — and you better not breathe.”” »
If you’ve ever wanted to see what happens when The Island of Dr. Moreau is filtered through the budget of a local middle school theater group and the ethical compass of a gas station taxidermist, then Superbeast is for you. It’s a film that dares to ask, “What if genetic engineering, jungle sweat, and half-hearted … Read More “Superbeast (1972) “Dr. Moreau called — he wants his dignity back.”” »
There are holiday horror films that send a shiver down your spine. And then there’s Silent Night, Bloody Night, a yuletide slaughter-fest that plays like a fever dream shared between Wes Craven and a drunk civil servant during a blackout. It has everything: a mysterious mansion, an incestuous family tree, a revenge plot that’s older … Read More “Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) A film so festive, it wraps its incoherence in tinsel and hands you an axe to the face.” »