If you’re in the market for a film where immortality is achieved via flashlight and guinea pig sabotage, then congratulations: The Asphyx is your new morbid bedtime story. This 1972 British horror-science fiction film, directed by Peter Newbrook in his only feature as director, is a delightfully peculiar oddity—equal parts philosophical parable, gothic fever dream, … Read More “The Asphyx (1972): Immortality Sucks — But Make It Victorian” »
There are movies that straddle genres. Then there’s Twins of Evil—a film that proudly pirouettes between Gothic horror, Puritanical hysteria, softcore sleaze, and accidental Monty Python sketch, all while wearing a satin cape and cleavage down to here. It’s the third installment in Hammer Films’ Karnstein Trilogy, and boy, does it go out with a … Read More “Twins of Evil (1971): Double the Bosoms, Half the Plot, Zero the Logic” »
Let’s get this out of the way: A Taste of Evil is far better than any made-for-TV movie has any right to be. It aired as part of ABC’s “Movie of the Week” lineup in October 1971, which means it was sandwiched between commercials for Ford Pintos and Tang, but don’t let that fool you—this … Read More “A Taste of Evil (1971): Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss Gone Wrong” »
If you’ve ever watched a shaggy, shirtless man in a cape chant half-hearted spells in a public park and thought, “I need 90 minutes of this,” then congratulations: your cinematic messiah has arrived. His name is Simon Sinestrari, and he lives in a storm sewer. Yes, Simon, King of the Witches is the only film … Read More “Simon, King of the Witches (1971): A Majestic Mess of Murky Magic and Sewer Sorcery” »
Welcome to the sun-bleached, polyester-saturated nightmare that is Point of Terror, a 1971 erotic horror-drama that asks the bold question: what if Miami Vice was filmed by a community college drama club on a three-day meth bender, with a soundtrack recorded in someone’s garage and costumes sponsored by Leisure Suit Larry? Directed by Alex Nicol … Read More “Point of Terror (1971): Less Point, More Terror (For the Audience)” »
If cinema is a church, then The Night God Screamed is the mildew-covered basement bathroom with a flickering light and a weird smell. It’s not just bad—it’s hymn-book-rippingly terrible. Directed by Lee Madden, who presumably owed someone a favor or lost a bet, this shrill, exploitative slog attempts to dress itself up as a psychological … Read More “The Night God Screamed (1971) — and so did I, from boredom.” »
If Dante had taken a detour through a Belgian thrift store, he might have stumbled upon something like Malpertuis—a film so committed to labyrinthine weirdness and theatrical ennui that it feels like it was specifically designed to punish anyone who ever uttered the words “I like surrealism.” Directed by Harry Kümel and starring a visibly … Read More “Malpertuis (1971): A Maze of Madness and Mothballs” »
Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left is the cinematic equivalent of getting punched in the soul by someone wearing a dirty sock. It’s not so much a film as it is a hazy fever dream in which everyone — characters, actors, and viewers alike — seems to be held hostage by an aggressive … Read More “The Last House on the Left (1972) – When “Grim” Meets “Grimy” and Nobody Wins” »
If ever a film proved that a clever pun for a title is no guarantee of actual cinematic merit, I Dismember Mama stands proudly at the head of the line, like a drunken uncle at a wedding with blood on his hands and no idea why he’s there. Marketed with barf bags (“Up Chuck Cups,” … Read More “I Dismember Mama (1972) – A Severely Misdirected Misfire” »
Sometimes horror needs no subtlety, no whispers in the dark or creeping dread — just the raw, pulpy scream of a plot that dares to ask: What if your deadbeat dad was also a vampire, and your conception involved a graveyard, a crypt, and a lot of trauma therapy waiting to happen? Grave of the … Read More “Grave of the Vampire (1972): Bloodlines and Bad Dads” »