Black Sunday:A review

Black Sunday also known as The Devil's Mask,Revenge of the Vampire Woman,House of Fright, and Mask of the Demon is an Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava  and was the film debut  of the beautiful Barbara Steele. There is much that can be said about this 1960 film, but luckily there are more positive things that can be said about it rather than negative. 

The first three to four minutes of the film are without a doubt one of the greatest openings in classic horror or for horror films in general. In a dark moonlight grove we see a group of hooded men surrounding  a beautiful woman who has been tied to a stake. We soon find out that this woman is Princess Asa who has been accused of witch craft and has been condemned by her brother to wear the spike-lined devil's mask, bringing her death, but before her fateful end she receipts a curse that lets her killers know that she will return one day and she will have her revenge. Two-hundred years later (1860) Princess Asa's body is disturbed by the descendants of her brother and is accidentally brought back to life. Thus, the plot of the witch's revenge is set in motion.

One of the strongest aspects of the film is without a doubt the cinematography.  I'll be honest when it comes horror films and their over all look it just does not get better than this. Mario Bava was not afraid to use sweeping camera angles and moody settings in Black Sunday. In fact much of his camera work went on to inspire other filmmakers.For example Francis Ford Coppola recreated many scenes from Black Sunday in his 1992 film Dracula. Tim Burton also took a great deal of inspiration from the film when it came to his film Sleepy Hallow. One of my favorite camera angles in the film is when we go into first person mode and see the terror through the victims eyes.

The music is another thing that can be praised about this film. Unlike most horror films where the music seems to blend in the background, the music in Black Sunday  seems to be a driving force in the film. Now, mind you there is no memorable theme song that you'd see in Psycho or Rosemary's Baby,but you'll be sure to enjoy it when it is present and might even remember certain scenes just because of how well the music adds to the film.

There is a very limited amount of gore shown within in the film, but the little bit of blood that is present was considered to be terribly radical in 1960. When the film was first released it was banned in the United Kingdom due to the gruesome opening scene where the witch is killed by a spiked mask. In all honesty the most violence you see in this film are at the very beginning and the rest of the film is pretty tame when it comes to any action present.


Plot-wise the film seems to suffer a bit, there is nothing that really stands out. In Black Sunday you have your standard 1930/40s horror fair such as a cursed supernatural that is after the damsel in distress, which the hero of the tale tries to save, but he fails so it's up to the angry mob with torches and pitchforks to save the day. The plot is not bad it was just terribly cliche by the time it came out.

 Never send a man to a mob's job.

The acting is another drawback in the film. No one is exactly terrible, but no one is exactly good. Everyone's performances is just so-so and the only person in the film who even slightly stands out from the rest of the cast is Barbara Steel and that mostly due to her unique fascicle expressions. Throughout most of the film she either plays an evil madwoman or a feeble frightened female. It was reported that while shooting the actors never saw a completed script. Barbara Steele states "We were given the pages day to day. We had hardly any idea what was going down on that film. We had no idea of the end, or the beginning, either, not at all."  This would of course make it terribly difficult for the actors in the film to really get into their roles.

This film is an absolute must for any horror film fan, especially for those who enjoy classic 1930s/1940s horror. It is a foreign Italian film, so you can either watch it in Italian or dubbed English. The dubbed version is a bit odd in some aspects, but the voices with the lip movements seem natural and even not noticeable in some scenes. I think even a few contemporary horror fans might be able to enjoy this film due to its rich cinematography. The first three to four minutes of the film is a must for anyone who appreciates cinema. You can watch the film for free on YouTube.

Film:

Rated: Not Rated (By modern standards it's probably around a PG.)

Time: 87 Minutes

Film Type: Silver Scream,

-Horrorwood Doll

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (A review of two films)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is regarded as one of the most horrific films to hit theaters and is without a doubt one of the defining films of the slasher horror genre. Like many films of the era a handful of teenagers/college students are involved. In this version the group of young adults are on their way to visit an old house that belonged to two of the youths grandfather. On there way to the old abandoned home they pick up a hitch-hiker who is crazy and ends up slicing up the hand of one of the young travelers. This of course ends with the crazy hitch-hiker getting his ass thrown on the road (and the reason why no one picks up hitch-hikers anymore.) The kids stop by a small gas station that has no gas, but has some delicious barbecue. The kids decide to keep moving along with their journey to grandpa's old abandoned house. Once they make it to the house the characters begin to venture towards a nearby and stupidly walk in uninvited where they get picked off one by one.

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a semi-intelligent film that seems to play around with certain concepts that are never fully explored. At the beginning of there is talk of animal killings in slaughterhouses and ones destiny of sorts. Is ones life/day planned out by fate? What happens when one loses purpose? Are human-beings more animalistic in nature then what we want to believe? Again, these concepts are not ever really explored in the film and I really am probably looking far into things that aren't really. It really is the conversations that are had by the characters at the beginning of the film that really make the events that happen later on in the film that much more interesting.

The series of characters are slightly more developed than the type of characters you would see in the majority of slasher films, but they still aren't developed enough for one to really care about once they meet their demise. The conversations at the beginning of the film is what gives the characters more depth, however their actions don't follow through to what a normal human being would do.

This film has been regarded as one of the most violent and brutal films of all time and was even banned in certain countries. In reality very little blood is seen in the film, but the film gains its horrific tone from its atmosphere and onscreen deaths. The films most memorable deaths actually don't stem from the chainsaw that the film is so known for. The film is most remembered for the slaughterhouse setup with a guy being knocked against the head like that of cattle and a girl being hung onto a meat-hook. During these scenes is when we really see just how brutal the killer really is and the horrific imagery of a human slaughterhouse.

"In Kim Newman's view, Hooper's presentation of the Sawyer family during the dinner scene parodies a typical American sitcom family: the gas station owner is the bread-winning father figure; the killer Leatherface is depicted as a bourgeois housewife; the hitchhiker acts as the rebellious teenager."-http://www.filmreference.com/Films-Str-Th/The-Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre.html

When the young adults stumble onto the cannibalistic family's house on the outside we see nothing that would indicate just how terrorfying things are on the inside. On the outside we see a beautiful white house surronded by sunflowers that looks like the type of thing Mr. and Mrs. Kent would proudly call home. When the characters we see decaying animals, furniture built from human remains, and a slaughterhouse set up. By 1975 the American dream was perceived dead by most and the cold war and social upheaval had lead American soceity to become cannibalistic.

As a slasher film it is certainly a classic and does do quite a few interesting things that keep the audience interested. The film still remains to be an affective horror film even to this day, but the film is not without its problems. The ending of the film seems to be rushed and a bit of a let down. The film would of been more affective if it had ended a few minutes earlier or a more ambigious ending.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not based on a real event like many beleive, but is in fact based on the infamous serial killer Ed Gein. Psycho is another film that takes inspiration from Ed Geins and it's surprising to see that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was only released less than ten years after Psycho and already had the horror genre changed to a dizzingly degree. When Psycho came out we still have a film that has elegance and class that was in the golden age of Universal Monster film. In ten years time the horror genre had completley changed, we now had brutal,gritty films and films that oozed with violence and sex.

Today's slasher audience might find the film to be a bit slow in the beginning, but the film provides enough interesting on scene kills that keeps the audience intrigued. This film is also a cult classic and has defined the slasher genre and lead us to having great slasher films like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm St. and of course Halloween.

Random Facts:

The farmhouse that was used in the film is now a restaurant in Kingsland, TX, with delicious food  that is of the non-human variety. Check them out here:http://www.junction-house.com/

The actress whose character was hung up on a meat hook was actually held up by a nylon cord that went between her legs, causing a great deal of pain.

The human skeleton in the house at the end of the movie was a real human skeleton. They used a real one because a human skeleton from India is far cheaper then a fake plastic skeleton.



Film:
Rated: R
Time: 83 min.

Film Type: Midnight Slasher,

During this day and age the majority of films released are remakes or sequals.This is nothing new for the horror genre, but the 2000s seems to be big on remaking the horror classics for later decades so it was no big surprise that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre got a remake in 2003. This time the group of youths are traveling towards some kind of music festival that encounter when they encountered a traumatized woman on the side of the road that they decide to pick up and help. The woman while in the car shoots herself in the head and cause the young adults to flock to a town known as Travis County in order to find help. One by one the group is picked off untill there is only one left.

Less time is focused on  th group of characters themselves and more focus is put upon the plot itself. The actions of the characters in the film seem to be a bit more understandable, but still seem to fall into same flaw most slasher films have with characters never really questioning their surroundings.

In the orginal the house and looks to be a plesant farmhouse on the outside and macabre horror on the inside. The reamake however shows no difference between the inside or outside and should have tipped off the travelers first hand that something is not right in Tavis County. Certain aspects of the original are not included in the film such as the big dinner scene or any mention of the family being cannibalistic.

In all honesty this remake is a couple steps above most horror remakes,but fails to live up to the original. If the 1974 Texas Massacre a semi-intelligent gory milestone, the remake is a mindless,but enjoyable popcorn flick. Even though the violence is amped a few notches, the death scenes seem to be a bit less memorable and this might be due to the fact that the film lack the grittiness of the original and had a cast of characters that weren't as likable as the orginal cast.This film is action packed from the very beginning and a bit more violent than the orginal,so today's slasher fans might find this version a bit more enjoyable.

Film:
Rated: R
Time: 83 min.

Film Type: Midnight Slasher,

-Horrorwood Doll

Organ Trail:Zombie Style

All is lost! The zombie epidemic has finally came to be and there is no turning back. The United States capital of Washington D.C. has been issued under termination status by the government. The survivors have no other alternative, but to flee and head west in hope of  a better and zombie-free way of life.

Organ Trail is a new spin on the classic game. Instead of  hitting the Oregon trail and heading west in chances of a new plentiful life, you are now heading west to the safe zone in hope that you'll be out of reach from the undead fiends. The game is pretty basic and mostly resembles the earlier versions of the westward game.
 

Like the original game you have to find ways to obtain food, keep your party healthy, and keep your chosen transportation in tip top shape. There are a few things you have to account for though and that is that every step you take on this journey is zombie filled.

 

Don't take the candy this guy gives you.

The game  is fairly simple, but a little bit of strategy is needed to succeed.

*TIPS* (Ignore if you want to just figure everything out on your own.)

If you pick the hardest level that leaves you to get your supplies in  hours divide your time collecting these items.

  *6 hours to gather gas (You can't win or go anywhere in the game without this)

*1 hour for bullets (Don't bother gathering food. Gather your food outside the main city instead and you should have all the bullets you need for the whole game.)

* 1 hour spend on medical kit or money.

Make sure you leave in early morning and it's best to travel by night.

If you spot a tombstone by the road don't investigate. Of course if you're really curious go right on ahead.

Use your medical kits only when a member of your party has passed out. The medical kits can not cure illness so rest is your only hope.

The game takes a hour on average to play and can be found at hatsproductions.com or by clicking on this link. I wish there were more obstacles in the game to make things a bit more interesting, but it really is a work  in progress. The game is always getting updates so be sure to check back. If you are a fan of the classic Oregon Trail you'll most definitely like this game.

-Horrorwood Doll