Some horror movies hide the monster to build suspense. Jaws did it because the shark prop looked like a drunk pool toy. Alien did it because Ridley Scott understood atmosphere. Sound of Horror (1966), directed by José Antonio Nieves Conde, does it because—let’s be honest—they didn’t have a monster. Or a budget. Or a script … Read More “Sound of Horror (1966) – Or: How to Kill Ninety Minutes Without Ever Showing the Monster” »
There are bad sci‑fi films, and then there’s The Projected Man, a 1966 British clunker that manages to be both pompous and broke at the same time. It’s like someone tried to remake The Fly after pawning the actual fly for rent money. Directed—well, “started”—by Ian Curteis (who quickly realized he’d rather be anywhere else) … Read More “The Projected Man (1966) – When The Fly Met a Toaster and Both Quit Show Business” »
There’s cheap horror, there’s confused horror, and then there’s Naked Evil, a film that feels like it was written on the back of a pub napkin after three pints too many and filmed before the hangover set in. Directed by Stanley Goulder and based on a BBC play (The Obi), it tries to mash voodoo … Read More “Naked Evil (1966) – A Stiff Drink of Graveyard Dirt, Chicken Feathers, and Cinematic Flatulence” »
There are bad movies. There are laughably bad movies. And then there’s The Fiend with the Electronic Brain, which feels like someone put a diamond‑heist caper, a mad scientist B‑picture, a lounge act promo reel, and a war trauma exploitation drama in a blender, pressed “purée,” and served it to John Carradine in exchange for … Read More “The Fiend with the Electronic Brain (1969) – A Trainwreck with Wires Sticking Out of Its Skull” »
Sometimes horror history is born in a graveyard. Sometimes it’s born in a dusty old castle. And sometimes—just sometimes—it’s born because a Spanish guy named Jacinto Molina watched Lon Chaney Jr. get furry in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man and said: “Mom, I want to be a werewolf when I grow up.” And damned if … Read More “The Mark of the Wolfman (1968): When Eurotrash Horror Grew Fangs and a Chest Hair” »
Some horror films grab you by the throat. Others creep into your dreams. The Hand of Night? It grabs you by the wrist, apologizes for the inconvenience, and then quietly bores you into an early nap. The premise sounds halfway decent on paper: Paul Carver (William Sylvester), a grieving man who’s lost his wife and … Read More “The Hand of Night (1968): When Grief Goes on Holiday” »
Sometimes giallo films are about black-gloved killers slashing their way through Rome. Sometimes they’re about psychological breakdowns framed with stylish lighting and jazzy soundtracks. And then, sometimes, they’re about boneless chickens, adulterous cousins, and a man who can’t tell the difference between murder and improv theater with prostitutes. Welcome to Death Laid an Egg, the … Read More “Death Laid an Egg (1968): Poultry, Perverts, and Poultry Perverts” »
If you’ve ever wanted to see Peter Cushing — the gentlemanly Baron of Hammer Horror — stumble into the 1960s like your grandpa crashing a rave, Corruption is your movie. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the sleaziest, most confused messes he ever signed his name to, and that includes the time he did The Blood … Read More “Corruption (1968): Botox by Way of Chainsaw Massacre” »
Before Twilight made monster romance insufferable, before Underworld turned lycanthropy into a leather fetish, La Loba—a.k.a. The She-Wolf—asked the age-old question: What if your therapist was also a werewolf and you both just decided to maul your problems away together? Mexican horror never looked so fuzzy, feral, and strangely romantic. Andy Milligan’s Blood Rites (also … Read More “Blood Rites (1968): When Your Inheritance is Just PTSD” »
Some movies are so bad they earn a kind of immortality. The Blood Beast Terror isn’t one of them. This is the cinematic equivalent of finding a moth in your closet—annoying, ugly, and guaranteed to leave you wondering why you wasted your evening swatting at it. Peter Cushing, forever the gentleman of British horror, looks … Read More “The Blood Beast Terror (1968): When Moths Attack, Everyone Yawns” »