Tag Archives: Hallowe’en

Train to Halloween Horror Fest

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Are you feeling brave? Let’s explore some more spooky movies for Halloween…

Ginger Snaps (2000)

A mad dog is on the loose in the town of Bailey Downs, Ontario (that’s in Canada!). Two residents, sisters Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katharine Isabelle), are local school misfits and morbidly obsessed. One night, Ginger is attacked by the dog, but guess what? That’s right, it ain’t a dog…

Ginger begins to change, both physically and in her demeanour. It becomes obvious to her sister that she’s becoming a werewolf. As the two negotiate how to manage the situation, their lives inevitably become more complicated and things get lethal.

Ginger Snaps is a very. very clever film that puts a new spin on the old werewolf folklore. By concentrating on two young female lead characters, it serves as an ingenious deviation from the norm and a well observed look at the young girl’s lives. It’s like Twilight with teeth. Or should that be – with fangs?

8/10

House of Dracula (1945)

This is what we want! Universal monsters – not one, not two, but three of the classics! A black & white monster movie, we get to see Dracula, the Wolfman and Frankenstein’s monster – together!

In this follow up to House of Frankenstein, which also featured the three horror icons, Dracula (John Carradine) is visiting Dr Edelman (Onslow Stevens) to cure his vampirism. Similarly, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) – the Wolfman – is also seeking out the same doctor for assistance in finding a cure for himself. Throw into the mix a revived Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) and you’ve got a triple threat creature showdowwn!

It’s all a bit contrived and silly really, too many odd coincidences occur to engineer the creatures being in the same place at the same time. But if you can conveniently ignore that, House of Dracula is good fun. There are some great special effects and makeup, and Carradine and Lon Chaney Jr are good value for money.

7/10

Train to Busan (2016)

Zombies, zombies, zombies. Seems like my household like to watch a lot of zombie movies. And television programmes. So, I nearly passed on watching this South Korean entry into the genre out of sheer fatigue. I’m so glad I didn’t, as this is one of the best horror movies (zombie or otherwise) I’ve seen in a long while.

It follows a workaholic father taking his young daughter to visit her mother in Busan on her birthday. They take the train, and as bizarre, gruesome events spiral, they’re soon trapped in a zombie apocalypse.

The plot doesn’t really need much more explanation than that, and I don’t want to give the slightest thing away. But Train to Busan is one of the most intense, edge-of-the-seat frighteners going, filled with interesting characters, disastrous consequences and heart-breaking twists. Unmissable!

9/10

Halloween Horror Fest, Vampire

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Pull up a chair, settle down, here’s the next batch of scary movie reviews…

Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

Now this is more like it! Late 60s/early 70s vampire film on a budget, Count Yorga, Vampire is something of a cult classic. Just the sort of nonsense I love! Set in California, we meet Bulgarian aristocrat Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) as he conducts a seance for a bunch of groovy kids.

Afterward, a couple of the groovy kids, Erica and Paul, give the Count a lift home to his foreboding estate. On the way back, their van gets stuck in the mud, and they’re attacked by the Count in full vampire mode. The next day, they remember nothing, though Erica has lost blood and is examined by a doctor friend.

Erica succumbs to vampirism, and is whisked away by Count Yorga. The race is then on to rescue her and destroy the Count and his minions.

It’s a simple film, but effectively breathes new life into the old vampire legend. Quarry is enigmatic and powerful as Yorga, looking part Terence Stamp and part Christopher Lee. Count Yorga, Vampire is low budget, dated, and rambles on a bit, but it’s perfect for anyone who wants to explore the kitsch and uncanny.

8/10

Child’s Play (1988)

On the other hand, whilst retro cheapo vampire movies are always to my taste, Child’s Play was never something that appealed to me. I’ve never really had much interest in the more modern American horror/slasher movie. However, I’m often proved wrong in this regard, and Child’s Play proved me wrong again.

Serial killer Charles Lee Ray is reincarnated by Voodoo spells as Chucky, an innocent looking Good Guy doll. Young Andy is desperate for one of these dolls for his birthday, and his mother manages to scrape together some cash to buy a dodgy one. This of course is Chucky, and he’s out for revenge on his former partner and anyone else who gets in his way.

Murder ensues, and of course none of the adults believe Andy when he claims Chucky is to blame. Yet slowly, his mother (Catherine Hicks) begins to suspect the truth. The lead detective on the case (Chris Sarandon) eventually comes to realise what’s going on, too. They need to keep Andy out of harms way and stop Chucky from becoming human again…

After all this time, I finally watched Child’s Play a few years ago, and wouldn’t you just know it – old Chucky grew on me. It’s actually quite a fun, engaging supernatural horror with lots going on, and some neat observations on the furor caused by toys like Cabbage Patch Dolls. Forget your incredulity and enjoy!

8.5/10

The Evil of Halloween Horror Fest

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It’s time for more mini horror film reviews, as we celebrate spooky month! What have we got tonight?

The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

What we have here is the first Hammer Horror for this years Festival of Fear! This is the third film in the Hammer series, again starring the legendary Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein.

This time around, the Baron and his assistant Hans (Sandor Eles) are on the run following some dastardly grave robbing antics, so they decide to go back to his hometown of Karlstaad, despite being banished. There they hope to use valuables from the old Frankenstein castle to fund more research. Instead, the Baron finds that his old home has been looted – by, it turns out – the local authorities.

On the run again, they’re aided by a local deaf-mute girl, and hide in the mountains. The Baron discovers his old creature, frozen in ice. After rescuing the creature, they’re unable to bring it back to life fully, so decide to seek the help of a carnival hypnotist, Zoltan (Peter Woodthorpe). Zoltan is successful, but jeopardises everything by using the creature to enact his own cruel revenge…

It’s a funny old hodgepodge of a film, this one. The first Hammer movie, Curse of Frankenstein, is recapped but reimagined – it’s re-done and is very different this time round. The whole thing feels like different elements thrown together to see if they stick. Although the creature, this time played by Kiwi Kingston not Christopher Lee, looks more like the classic Karloff version, the makeup looks strange and false. The excellent sets and another great performance from Cushing help save The Evil of Frankenstein from failure.

7/10

Twilight (2008)

Hey, it was my teenage daughter’s choice – so what?! We take turns to pick something to watch, and Daughtertron is very into this Twilight stuff at the moment. So fair’s fair, we gave it a go.

Twilight is about a young woman named Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), who relocates from Arizona to the very different state of Washington, to live with her father. She attends the local school, makes some friends but gradually becomes intrigued by another classmate, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson).

After a frosty start, the two are slowly pulled together, and Bella discovers that Edward and his “family” are vampires. All is going well in a teen love story fashion, till a separate, wandering group of vampires happen upon the Cullen clan – and Bella – and there’s a big fall out during a baseball game.

Despite some bizarre ideas such as sparkling vampires and vampires playing baseball, the film wasn’t too bad. Twenty minutes too long and far too soppy, Twilight was still fairly watchable, even though I’m not the target audience. I’ve seen worse. I mean, it was better than Harry bloody Potter.

5/10

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Vault of Halloween Horror Fest

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Welcome back, horror fiends! Let’s take a look at a couple more spooky movies for Halloween Horror Fest…

Vault of Horror (1973)

For our first film tonight, we’ll venture into the Vault of Horror, a portmanteau film from Amicus. Like its predecessor Tales from the Crypt, the five short stories that compose Vault of Horror are inspired by the classic, notorious EC Comics of the same title.

In this movie, we journey to a vampire café, witness an obsessively neat bully get his comeuppance, and see a nasty stage magician mess with forces he should’ve left well alone. Then there’s the tale of an insurance scam gone wrong with the protagonist buried alive, and an impoverished artist resorting to voodoo to enact his revenge.

The stories vary in their effectiveness, but all have a charm and entertainment value. My favourite segment is probably the first, the bistro of the undead – but the last two have the more chilling narrative. Great performances from a cast including Terry-Thomas, Glynis Johns and Tom Baker keep everything on track.

Obviously I’m a huge fan of both the old EC Comics and Amicus films in general, so I enjoyed every second of Vault of Horror. It may be dated, but class like this never goes out of style.

8/10

Rec (2007)

Rec is a Spanish horror movie in the found footage genre. It follows a TV reporter and her cameraman filming a local crew of firefighters, who end up trapped in a residential block. They’re effectively quarantined inside the building with several residents, while an outbreak of some unknown disease starts to spread and the infected attack and kill survivors.

As the situation intensifies, Rec does a fine job of keeping the viewer on the edge, ramping up the scares as we go. The found footage approach works excellently to give a sense of realism and immerses the viewer in the confined surroundings.

Rec was remade in the US (as they do) as Quarantine, though I’ve never seen it. Don’t let the subtitles in this version put you off – if anything, it’s another effective way to make the viewer feel isolated. Like Blair Witch does 28 Days Later, Rec is a harrowing, unnerving film. Rec-ommended! Hahaha!

8/10

Halloween Horror Fest 2026

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Glowing strings of moonlight break softly through the canopy of trees above. The forest is otherwise almost completely dark. The call of an owl rings out through the night as you tread carefully in the shadows, eyes working hard to glimpse something, anything, that seems familiar. You try not to stumble, shuffling slowly to avoid perils littering the forest floor.

And then, from behind you, you hear something. A low, menacing growl…

Don’t worry kids, it’s just another Halloween Horror Fest at Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot tub! You know we dig the spooky movies round here, and every October we dial that appreciation right up with out our own festival of frightful films.

So let’s dive right in with our first film of the year…

Sinners (2025)

Our first film of 2026 is right up to date, with this highly regarded modern take on the vampire legend. Set in the Southern USA in 1932, the film focuses on two twin brothers, ex-gangsters who have retuned to their hometown to set up their own juke joint in the midst of the local black community.

Smoke and Stack (both played brilliantly by Michael B Jordan) gather their friends and family members around them as they work to create their dream. Recruiting staff and noted blues musicians, the venue appears to be on its way to a glorious first night. But they – and the bar patrons – are unaware of a supernatural evil that threatens everything.

Much has been made of the success of Sinners, and it’s not hard to see why. It won four Oscars at the Academy Awards including a well deserved Best Actor for Jordan – it took me a while to realise that the same actor was playing a dual role. And of course it’s highly unusual for a horror film to be recognised in this way, at all.

Sinners is a fantastic movie, that starts slowly and recreates an authentic time and place, before it races off in a very different direction. It is indeed a scary film, but not at the cost of character and world building. Beyond the visceral horror element, other themes of race and culture are explored by writer/director Ryan Coogler, providing the viewer with a pretty unique combination of thrills and food for thought. Oh, and the music – by Ludwig Goransson – is great.

Vampire films never die, they just keep coming back – and Sinners is a modern classic of the genre.

9/10

The Halloween Horror Fest Must Die

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Happy Halloween, folks! Here are a few more spooky movie reviews, hope you enjoy!

The Beast Must Die (1974)

A departure from the more familiar horror anthology tales produced by Amicus, The Beast Must Die is an interesting curiosity. We meet a millionaire big game hunter, keen to bag himself the prize of a lifetime: a werewolf. Hence he invites a group of guests, all of whom could be suspected to be a lycanthrope, to his sprawling mansion with its high security.

Only one of them is a werewolf – can you guess which one in the “Werewolf Break”?

The break is a thirty second countdown, allowing a brief pause for the audience to decide for themselves which of the guests is the werewolf, before all is revealed. And yes, it actually appears in the film. An odd gimmick, but there you go.

The film actually plays more like a detective story, or episode of a 1970s television thriller. As such, there are plenty of opportunities for some real suspense and jumpy horror that are squandered. But with a great cast including Peter Cushing, Charles Gray and Michael Gambon, this is still worth checking out. The Beast Must Die is a definite watch for any fan of 70’s British horror, like me.

8/10

Wolf Creek (2005)

Now if the snakes, spiders, sharks and God knows what else aren’t enough to put you off visiting Australia, then there’s always the deranged Outback serial killers.

In Wolf Creek, some typically annoying young studenty backpackers are travelling across the mundane wasteland when they run into some psycho called Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). Although he promises to help them with a broken down car, turns out Mick isn’t really very nice. What follows is a shocking and disturbing account of what can only be termed torture porn, as the kids try desperately to escape the clutches of the cork hat maniac.

Wolf Creek is actually a well made film, featuring some very good performances. It’s extremely tense and downright nasty. If you can deal with that, this film is definitely worth a watch. The viewer can’t help but empathise with the kids and imagine themselves being in such a horrific situation. But the plot is kinda obvious and unfulfilling in the end, a bit like an episode of Neighbours.

So, what’s the moral of this particular story? Don’t go to Australia.

7.5/10

The Fly (1958)

Not the crappy David Cronenberg remake, this is the original 1958 classic sci-fi horror starring the legendary Vincent Price. The story unfolds of Price’s brother, Andre (David Hedison), a scientific genius, and his sadly disastrous experiment with matter transferral.

After some initial success, Andre eventually goes too far in his explorations, as a rogue house fly enters the matter transmitter with him. The result is a gruesome hybrid of the human being and a fly, and the race is on to try to reverse the process before the scientist loses all trace of humanity.

This brilliantly clever film is also very touching, as the brilliant scientist and his family are subjected to terrible events that they cannot escape. Great performances, of course, and a bizarre twist in the tale make this first version of The Fly the definitive version. Absolutely unmissable.

9.5/10

Halloween Horror Fest of Frankenstein

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Groovy title, eh?  I know “Son of Halloween Horror Fest” would’ve made more sense, but I’ve used that title already.  I could’ve gone with “Son of Halloween Horror Fest 2025”, but that’s boring.  So we are where we are.  Here are the reviews…

Son of Frankenstein (1939)

Classic Universal horror, and what a cast!  Following on from Bride of Frankenstein, in this story the studio attempt to spin the franchise out with another sequel.

Wolf von Frankenstein (Basil Rathbone), son of the legendary baron and obsessed scientist, returns with his family to their ancestral home after years in exile.  The locals give them a somewhat frosty reception, as the memory of the carnage wrought by the elder Frankenstein’s creature (Boris Karloff) still haunts them.

Wolf is concerned with saving the family reputation, but when he stumbles across Ygor (Bela Lugosi), a revenge crazed outcast, things can only go downhill.  Old Ygor knows where the creature is, and despite clashing objectives, he and Wolf will attempt to revive the creature again…

Although the narrative is becoming very obvious by this point in the series, this sequel is watchable for many reasons.  It looks fantastic in black and white, the shadowy sets full of secrets and menace.  And the cast are superb, though Karloff’s creature is outshone by Lugosi in a very memorable roll.

Not a patch on it’s predecessor, Son of Frankenstein is still a thoroughly enjoyable old school horror yarn.

8.5/10

Casper (1995)

More family friendly fun now, but this film really is a stinker.  Based on the old comic strip about a friendly ghost and his three horrible uncles, it starts off as well intentioned before going off the tracks.

An obnoxious, rich brat has been left a rundown, haunted mansion in her father’s will.  It’s the haunted mansion occupied by Casper and chums, obvs.  A “paranormal therapist” played by Bill Pullman is eventually tasked with sorting out the spooks, so that the vile new owner can claim some lost treasure that’s apparently hidden away there.

Bill brings along his daughter Kat, played by Christina Ricci.  Both of them have unaddressed issues following the death of Kat’s mother.  Casper has a crush on Kat (of course) and hilarity ensues (not) as they try to tame the spooks, and other stuff.

The CGI animated Casper looks really cute, and there are some amusing moments occasionally (Eric Idle, in a supporting role, is great).  But the tone is ruined by some truly ghastly additions like a machine that brings spirits back to life, and a completely unnecessary back story for Casper.

The attitude to death in this film is just plain weird, and distasteful.  Don’t worry kids, people die and become ghosts, then become people again!  This mash up of cutesy characters and flippant attitude is both odd and disrespectful.

3/10

Halloween Horror Fest Out of Space

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More Halloween friendly movies for your enjoyment – here’s Part 2 of our 2025 reviews!

Color Out Of Space (2019)

Based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story The Color Out of Space, this film attempts to create an authentic retelling in modern times. While it’s not totally derived from the source material, it makes a decent job of reimagining it for a new audience.

Nicholas Cage plays Nathan Gardner, who has relocated with his family from the city to his father’s farm in a remote New England area.  One night, a mysterious meteorite falls from the sky, bathing everything in a strange, indescribable colour. 

Very soon afterwards, things start to get weird for the Gardner family.  Unusual plants and insects begin to appear, electronic devices go haywire, and the family begin to lose the plot.  And with daughter Lavinia playing around with the dreaded book, the Necronomicon, things can only get worse…

I can’t decide if Color Out of Space is just “good” or really excellent.  As events spiral out of control, the film goes from unsettling to downright grotesque.  Cage’s performance is vintage Cage, crashing into an unhinged state.

But the sound design, music score and glorious photography make this film an unnerving experience.  Add in some nods to Lovecraft’s existential cosmic horror and you get a very disturbing, nihilistic film.  You’ll either love this film or be completely unmoved by it.  I loved it.

8.5/10

Scooby Doo (2002)

After the warped intensity of Lovecraft, it’s time for a change of pace!  And what could be better than some Scooby Doo?  The old Hanna  Barbera cartoon was a childhood gateway to all things spooky for me and many, many others – so Scoob and the gang are totally appropriate Halloween viewing.

This live action film sees the animation come vividly to life.  Though the human characters are actors, Scooby Doo is CGI so everything feels like the cartoon transposed into the real world.

Tensions are high within Mystery Inc, leading to the gang going their separate ways.  Shaggy (perfectly played by Matthew Lillard) is still paired with Scoob, and they find themselves invited to a tropical resort to solve a mystery.  Their erstwhile comrades have also been asked to attend, so slowly Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Velma (Linda Cardellini) find themselves working together again.

The casting is spot on for this film, though some of the character’s foibles have been exaggerated from the original cartoon depictions.  The Scooby Doo film is silly, but its great fun for kids of all ages – if the older “kids” can just go with the flow and enjoy it.

7/10

Halloween Horror Fest 2025

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Welcome, guys and ghouls, to another festival of frightful fun, with our annual Halloween Horror Fest!  I’ll pour you a Bloody Mary and you can put your hairy feet up, you’re just in time!

Now, I may enjoy viewing macabre movies all year round, but every October, we take things up a notch.  I like to watch some Halloween appropriate films, and share a review or two with my fiends. 

Let’s kick off 2025 with these two creations…

White Zombie (1932)

We’ll get things started with a bona fide, cult classic.  White Zombie is set in Haiti, and sees a reunited couple planning to be married, visiting a wealthy plantation owner.  The plantation owner also has designs on the bride-to-be, however – and arranges a local voodoo dude, Legendre (Bela Lugosi), to assist.

Legendre operates a sugar mill that is worked by zombies.  He agrees to use his evil magic to transform our bride-to-be into a zombie, and she soon appears to expire.  Not long after she is reanimated, but will her groom be able to discover what’s happened, and put things right?

White Zombie is possibly the very first full length zombie movie, and though it’s very dated, it’s still a great watch.  This is mostly due to Lugosi, resonating menace with his piercing eyes and forked goatee.  A sinister performance and iconic appearance.

I’ve wanted to see this film for years, and though it’s pretty basic, I really enjoyed White Zombie.  I mean, how can it not be cool if a 90s metal band was named after it?!

7.5/10

White Noise (2005)

A rich architect dude (Michael Keaton) with an annoyingly perfect life and house, is left distraught with the unexpected death of his wife.  Then this other dude shows up and claims he’s been receiving messages from Mike’s dead Mrs via electronic voice phenomena (static, in other words).

Turns out the fuzzy babble and images are on the money, and Mike becomes deeply involved in EVP communication from beyond.  He starts receiving recorded messages and decides to stick his foot into other people’s business.

I think that about sums things up, though there is some nonsense about a serial killer shoe-horned in.  Honestly, when I saw this film twenty years ago, it seemed to have a few creepy elements to it.  Watching again, the only creeply thing in White Noise was the sickly, mawkish forced air of grief and misery.  The story itself was far too obvious and contrived.

The White Noise DVD has gone to haunt the local charity shop.

3/10

The Cult – Gig Review

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The Cult + Jonathan Hultén

Friday 25th October 2024

02 Apollo Manchester

November 25 1991, Manchester G-MEX. That was the last (and first) time I saw The Cult perform live. They were my favourite band and being there to witness them in person was a hell of a thrill, I was barely 19 years old and I’d never been to a gig of that scale before. Years go by, and I’m finally going to see The Cult again, this time at the far more atmospheric Apollo, rather than the cavernous aircraft hanger of the old G-MEX.

Yes indeed, it had been a long time since I saw my old mates Billy and Ian up on a stage. A lot had happened during that time – for all of us – but the music was always there.

Our support act this evening, in a seemingly incongruous move, was Jonathan Hultén. Standing solo on stage, swathed in veils and enigmatic face paint, Hultén was not what many were expecting to open the show. His music was dark, ethereal folk, with acoustic guitar and haunting vocals. At first I was intrigued, as the music continued I became thoroughly engaged. Just a few days before Halloween, this Scandinavian folk horror and gothic bombast was entirely appropriate to open this event.

More surprises, even more pleasant, revealed themselves when The Cult took to the Apollo stage – accompanied by a sample of ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ from Apocalypse Now (a genius move in itself). Launching into an earth-shaking ‘In The Clouds’, followed by ‘Rise’, from the insanely underrated “Beyond Good and Evil” album, this was not what I was expecting at all. Both songs are later entries in the band’s cannon, and sit gloriously at the heavier end of their repertoire. I adore both tracks – this was going to be interesting.

“Electric” album cut ‘Wildflower’ was next. One of my favourite Cult songs, I could’ve left at that point and been satisfied. More hard hitting classics followed with the swagger of ‘Star’ and Charlie Jones’s thudding bass introducing ‘The Witch’. New track ‘Mirror’ slots in seamlessly, then we get another mighty song from “Beyond Good and Evil”, ‘War (The Process’). All well known songs to Cult freaks like me, but not obvious choices by any means.

Billed as “The Cult 8424” – a 40 year anniversary tour – I’d expected a Greatest Hits set, culled mainly from the bands mid 80’s days. Early non-album single ‘Resurrection Joe’ was therefore no surprise, otherwise, this set spanned eras and albums confidently. Next was an acoustic ‘Edie (Ciao Baby)’ – I’ve always preferred this song in stripped down form to the “Sonic Temple” production.

‘Sweet Soul Sister’ was my chance for a quick “comfort break” – I’ve never been a huge fan. Great riff, overblown chorus! Another surprise followed, with ‘Lucifer’ from the “Choice of Weapon” record. The huge, epic riff of this song has made it one of my favourites, so a real bonus to hear live. John Tempesta on drums really powered all these songs home flawlessly, with both groove and power.

The latter part of the set delivered all the big crowd pleasers; an anthemic ‘Firewoman’, a truly captivating ‘Rain’ (surely one of the greatest rock riffs of the era), the tribal beauty of ‘Spiritwalker’. Billy Duffy, playing to a home town crowd, performed guitar magic throughout: from gutsy, gritty riffs to mesmerising yet direct, never fancy melodies. Lightning bolt energy from Ian Astbury galvanised the audience, as he revelled in the role of shamanic leader. And with a final roar through ‘Love Removal Machine’, it’s over.

Except it isn’t! Of course not, we all know The Cult will be back for an encore. But what will it be? Any more surprises?

‘Brother Wolf, Sister Moon’ is a classic track from the wonderful “Love” album, but wasn’t a single and so a very welcome reward. Finally, of course, the legendary ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ rings out and unites the crowd in a euphoric shared moment – Astbury’s air raid siren vocals leading the throng. I swear that man doesn’t need a microphone.

My return visit to The Cult’s sonic temple took a few years longer than anticipated. It was great to see them on such fine form, revelling in the classics and confident in their position as genuine, treasured heroes. What really made the gig for me though, was the sheer joy of hearing a very generous helping of less obvious, but very beloved tracks that I wasn’t expecting. No ‘Lil’ Devil’, but the rest of the set made up for it. I’ll return sooner next time.

PS: we need “Beyond Good and Evil” re-releasing on vinyl, please lads!