NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER (1972)

   With a title like NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER you might think there would be some strangling going on here but you would be sadly mistaken. The closest we get is a drowning in a bathtub but besides that there are a bunch of other ways our mysterious killer offs his victims, non of which is by strangulation. To add insult to injury not much of this movie takes place at night either!

  I've seen this movie referred to as blaxploitation which is another untruth. There are a couple of black characters and racism does play a big role in the proceedings but the soundtrack is not quite funky enough to qualify as a proper 70s blaxploitation flick. Ex and future member of The Monkees, Micky Dolenz does a decent job in this non-comedic role and while the novelty of seeing him in an exploitation movie like this might make it worth a watch for some people there's not much more to recommend this one for. AKA DIRTY DAN'S WOMEN and IS THE FATHER BLACK ENOUGH? Re-released as THE ACE OF SPADES.

 Not to be confused with the Kolchak TV-movie THE NIGHT STRANGLER which does actually feature some strangling victims. 

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973)

  While I'm a bit too young to remember when this made-for-T.V. movie originally played I do recall bits and pieces of it from one of it's many re-broadcasts over the years. It's definitely one of the highpoints of television horror and despite the absurd-looking onion-headed miniature monsters here it still manages to be a creepy classic. 

 I know there's a modern remake of this written by Guillermo Del Toro but I'm not sure I want to see a big budget version of this since the original manages to pull of the atmospheric chills with very little. 

 Uncle Charley from MY THREE SONS is the featured harbinger of doom here who is sadly ignored.

HOLLYWOOD MEATCLEAVER MASSACRE (1976)

  You would think a movie most commonly known simply as MEATCLEAVER MASSACRE might actually contain someone getting killed with a meat-cleaver but don't count on that. There is a massacre though consisting of strangulation, bludgeoning and a kitchen knife, but no cleaver action, which sets the story into motion and then we focus on the sole survivor of said massacre getting his revenge from his hospital bed which kinda reminded me of that movie PATRICK(which wouldn't come out for a couple of years) though in this case he uses some kinda Satanic demon conjuring instead of just psychic powers like in that one. It's not very exciting. Christopher Lee pops up in the opening and closing to tell stories that vaguely relate to the main movie. Apparently the producers just bought some footage of him to get his mug on the poster.

 Released on video as REVENGE OF THE DEAD. 

SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER (1970)

 A lady scientist(Erna Schürer) shows up at the castle of a Baron(Carlos Quiney) who has a reputation for loving women and then murdering them. But is he the murderer or is there a darker secret to unveil? Well this is a gothic Eurotrash 70s flick so inevitably things will get a bit weird and sexy before it's done. A bit of a slow-moving one but if you enjoy these types of old dark castle flicks it's probably worth a look and there is a crap-faced monster involved. AKA ALTAR OF BLOOD, KILLERS OF THE CASTLE OF BLOOD and BLOOD CASTLE

 

                                  Known as THE CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN in Mexico!:

Original Italian title THE CASTLE WITH THE GATES OF FIRE:

Originally played in The U.S. on a double bill with this American vampire flick:

THE VAMPIRE DOLL (1970)

  First in a trilogy of vampire films from Toho studios. This one features a gal who gets hypnotized into being a creepy vampire lady(though she mostly just acts like a ghost). Good atmospheric gothic horror, which is not something you normally expect from Japan. Does a good job at emulating 60s European horror flicks with some added blood. 

 This has quite a few alternate titles including FEAR OF THE GHOST HOUSE: BLOODSCUKING DOLL, THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE, THE GHOST MANSION'S HORROR: A BLOODSUCKING DOLL and just plain old BLOODSUCKING DOLL. Released on video as THE LEGACY OF DRACULA.

Released in Mexico as THE DOLL THAT DRINKS BLOOD:

HOUSE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1974)

 

 This one was a real slog to get through. Retitled to make people think it's some kinda zombie flick, which it very much is not, what you actually get is a very slow-moving story of a mad doctor who's trying to transfer souls between living things or something like that. He's also really freaked out by horses and enjoys bloody player pianos and abusing monkeys. This has a very lively and loud final scene which might help wake you up after you've slept through the rest of this clunker. 

 AKA CURSE OF THE DEAD and DOCTOR MANIAC(this title is the closest to what you actually get). IMDB claims this was released on video as KILL, BABY, KILL but I think they might be confusing the fact that the Mario Bava movie with that title was also known as CURSE OF THE DEAD.

TOWER OF EVIL (1972)

  Pretty gory for a British film of this era, this film deals with 2 groups of people who end up an an island, with a tower on it and some caves under it, who end getting murdered one by one. Also lots of nudity and some disfigured monstrous killers. Pretty basic stuff if you've seen any slasher movie but hey this was 1972 and we weren't drowning in those type of films just yet. 

 Retitled and rereleased as BEYOND THE FOG in 1980 after John Carpenter's THE FOG came out to fool people into thinking it was a sequel. AKA HORROR ON SNAPE ISLAND

Known in Mexico as THE TOWER OF HORROR!:

Groovy 70s triple feature with that movie where a mummy tells you sex stories and that BONNIE AND CLYDE on motorcycles flick!:

HORROR HOSPITAL (1973)

 A great example of 70s British horror. You get a naughty dwarf, a car that lops heads right off, a slimy, burned-up monster running amuck and of course an insane doctor(Michael Gough) who runs a horrific hospital(where he lobotomizes people to make them happy to be his personal army?). There's obviously some social message about the generation gap with all the young long-hairs being menaced by the old weirdos as was a popular concern at the time. There are a slew of AKA's including COMPUTER KILLERS, DEATH WARD #13 and EASTWORLD(to no doubt confuse people into thinking they were seeing the sequel to WESTWORLD which also came out this same year). 

Released on video under the lurid title of DOCTOR BLOODBATH!:

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974)

  The final film in Hammer studios Frankenstein series brings back peter Cushing as the naughty doctor and teams him up with a young admirer and emulator of his work(Shane Briant). The monster is played by David Prowse who among other hulking monsters over the years would go on to famously play Darth Vader. Taking place in an insane asylum this is a decent enough watch though I often find the endings to these Hammer monster movies a bit of a letdown and this one is no exception there. It also leaves the ending open for more adventures of our wacky mad scientists which sadly didn't happen. 

Played in England on a weird double bill with a Shaw Brothers kung fu flick from 2 years prior:

KILLER'S MOON (1978)

  "you were only raped, as long as you don't tell anyone about it you'll be alright. You just pretend it never happened"

 The closest thing I can compare this to is 80s slasher ALONE IN THE DARK since they're both about a group of escaped homicidal mental patients. Since this came out in '78 I guess you have to call it a proto-slasher and it really pales in comparison to it's 80s counterpart. There are multiple rapes and murders going on so it is pretty sleazy but it never feels anywhere near as sleazy as similar stuff from this era like LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT etc. Fellow British director Peter Walker managed some pretty great stuff  at this same time so I guess my main problem with this is comparing it to a lot of the superior exploitation flicks it never quite lives up to.

ORGY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1973)

  Kind of a misleading title there. No "living dead" show up until close to the end and they certainly don't have an orgy! It's alternate title of THE HANGING WOMAN is more accurate as one of those does indeed show up at one point. Paul Naschy is often touted as the star of this but he's actually in a side role as Igor the gravedigger. There are some cool elements in this but they take too long to get to the FRANKENSTEIN-influenced ending. AKA BEYOND THE LIVING DEAD

                                  Released on video as RETURN OF THE ZOMBIES:

and as ZOMBIE 3: RETURN OF THE ZOMBIES despit having nothing to do with the ZOMBIE series:

                                  Released on video in the U.K. as THE HANGING WOMEN:

and theatrically as TERROR OF THE LIVING DEAD:

Released in Australia as BRACULA: THE TERROR OF THE LIVING DEAD

SHIVERS (1975)

  Big fan of director David Cronenberg but his first horror film here has never really been my favorite. It's kind of a zombie movie except these zombies are really horny! Oh and they're actually controlled by a parasite that sneaks around like a slug and crawls into people's orifices(including the great Barbara Steele in a bathtub). Lynn Lowry gets naked for no reason and we get lots of orgy scenes to go along with the murderous rampages. Still an impressive early movie clearly made on a low budget with ideas that would be more fleshed out in years to come. AKA IT CAME FROM WITHIN and THEY CAME FROM WITHIN

Known in Italy as THE DEMON UNDER THE SKIN:

THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (1971)

  This Italian horror is about half a giallo and half a more standard horror where we clearly see who the killer is and there's no mystery at all. You get kinky s & m killings, black-gloved killer, flesh-eating foxes, a skull-faced apparition and a mystery that's pretty easy to figure out. Not the greatest example of Eurotrash cinema but capable enough and it's always cool to see Erica Blanc show up in one of these types of films. AKA THE NIGHT SHE ROSE FROM THE TOMB

THE BEAST MUST DIE (1974)

  Peter Cushing and Calvin Lockhart(of COTTON COMES TO HARLEM fame) are featured in this British horror film that some call a blaxploitation werewolf movie. Despite the funky soundtrack and a couple of black characters it really isn't much like an American blaxploitation flick. Still a fun one that starts out like THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME before settling into a more typical whodunnit tale. There is a bit where they stop the movie and take a "werewolf break" so you can guess who's the wolfman(or wolfwoman) so that's something. The monster itself is kind of a letdown though being just a big fluffy dog 

Released on VHS under this more exploitative title!:

MURDER MANSION (1972)

  This Italian/Spanish giallo mixes the supernatural with your more standard murder-mystery fare here. A group of people end up stuck in an old mansion that may or may not be inhabited by a vampire lady, a zombie chauffeur and other sorts of creepy spirits. It all works out in the end though and it's an atmospheric ride along the way.  Check it out if the old haunted house gimmick doesn't bore you too much. AKA MANIAC MANSION

                                    Known in Spain as THE MANSION OF FOG!:

Known in Italy as WHEN MARTA SCREAMS FROM THE GRAVE!:

THE REDEEMER (1978)

 While this is a pretty standard slasher flick about a super religious nutjob killing off a group of people at a high school reunion,(later released on VHS as CLASS REUNION MASSACRE) what makes it interesting is that it was actually released before the original HALLOWEEN which is the movie that's usually credited with ushering in all these clones in it's wake. There are a few interesting touches here like the killer changing his appearance and weapon of choice for each murder and he even uses some creepy mechanized helpers at certain points. Overall though it's kind of a dull trip with a lot of unexplained nonsense involving an appearing and then disappearing extra thumb on our murderer and a boy popping up out of a lake for some reason. 

 I did get an opportunity to catch a 16mm film print of this last night at a local theater which did raise it's entertainment value slightly in my eyes.  

                                                               Big box VHS goodness!:

Slipcase version:

THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN (1975)

  While it's lumped into the giallo genre this is certainly no mystery since we're introduced to the murderer right away. It is a sorta variation on Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN(a cigarette lighter even comes into play) where George Hilton blackmails our killer, that he oversees dumping a body, into offing his wife. Things don't exactly go as planned and there are a few twists and turns which is more typical of a giallo. It's also one of the best movies director Luigi Cozzi ever made. He would go on to do a lot of silly trashy films throughout the 1980s including those dumb Lou Ferrigno HERCULES movies. AKA DARK IS DEATH'S FRIEND 

 Allegedly Cozzi wanted to call the film THE SPIDER and that is what it's titled on some video releases in a couple of other countries. 

THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)

 One of the all-time great Vincent Price performances here. Also one of the easiest jobs for Caroline Munro as his deceased wife and the catalyst for his revenge-fueled murder spree. Killer bats, rats, locusts and even a golden unicorn are among the tools used by Dr. Phibes to wreak his biblically-inspired vengeance(I don't remember any unicorns actually being in the bible but I'm no scholar). Fun horror flick that sorta inspired SAW(but they forgot the whole fun part). AKA DR. PHIBES

 There was a sequel the next year and a planned BRIDE OF DR. PHIBES that sadly never got made.