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will finish as watched:
"ghosts of hanley house" 1968 haunted house movie as you'd expect from the title. given that so many of this type of story has been told and so many films used the subject, i don't think i expected much from it. ultimately theres a twist to it which made it interesting.
a bet: "you can't stay a night in the house" and so a guy and 4 of his "friends" which don't really seem to be his friends make the attempt. strange things start to happen and we learn that "evil spirits" lurk in the house.
nothing too very surprising here. but we do get to learn why the ghosts haunt the place and the one among the group who had something to do with it.
some nice lighting and filming, fair acting, and generally good script. about the only thing thats bad here is the transfer which is all over the place; mostly its tolerable like watching a degraded film copy but the sound is difficult to hear at points and theres no subtitling or closed captioning for the dvd to help.
still worth a watch, its a good film all in all.
"the black raven": great little movie. its on the short side at 65 minutes, like it was for tv or something. i'm not sure. i also can't say about the filming vs the transfer here. timewise, its certainly long enough for the story not to drag. transfer or filming is bad; often the highlights are blown out and even more often the dark is just black. since this is a story that happens at night there are many scenes that are missing a lot of details and several scenes that its difficult to make out whats happening at all. this at times almost seems to be done as effect but another scene were the opposite is wrong...ie the highlights missing...suggests otherwise; in one scene a hotel guest signs in and his signature is shown of the paper but its so blown out it not viewable at all. probably a transfer issue but who knows. again with the same problem as before the sound is occasionally hard to hear but this is rare in this film...then again with no subtitles or cc its an issue especially at the start of the film. its a shame really, i liked the film a lot and may try to find a better copy of it.
the story is about a number of people who end up at a hotel for various reasons (many of them after a bridge is washed out). and then several reasons for murder to happen and in fact several murders, and a number of motives and a number of suspects. its not a complete mystery ala 'clue' and not as funny although there is actually some nice humor interspersed throughout.
well worth watching even this version. (9/10)
"the devil's hand": from the start psychobilly/tiki/tribal music you know you're in for a bit of cheesy chic. surprisingly less than it may appear though. apart from a few interludes and the mock devil worship/voodoo ritual, the film is more old school than it is hip.
a man finds himself sought after by a woman in a cult. the priest of this cult helps her induce and seduce him using their voodoo dolls. his wife is the victim of this plot. and you'll have to watch to see how it comes out....or more likely you've already guessed. no real surprises in this slow paced romp. not bad though either. the biggest problem with the film is not the story but the need for the ritual scenes, which are just downright silly. in fact in one scene the man breaks into the place where they do the rituals (a room behind the doll shop where the voodoo dolls are sold) and to avoid being caught he pulls down a curtain which is covering many of the walls, to reveal a door...i completely expected some sort've "Oz" moment here. (it was apparently meant to be a back exit, since he escapes undiscovered). bongo drums, a wheel of fortune with knives, a shelf of voodoo dolls, "tribal dancers", and the repeated and over-repeated references the "the great gamba" oooooaaaahhhh spooooky!
watchable but not great. (6/10)
"the strangler": a psychological thriller about a mama's boy who resents it. a man in his 30's now, a lab tech, begins taking out his anger with his mom on nurses. he strangles them with hosiery. the police know they have a serial killer but they can't pin it down. worse, the man passes their tests, because as their own psychologist tells them their killer is schizophrenic and might not see what he does as wrong thereby avoiding extreme readings on their lie detectors.
ok so the medical stuff is far fetched and the police work atrocious by today's standards, but as a story we'll forgive it the formalities. as well the main actor's portrayal of a schizophrenic serial killer wouldn't pass muster today, although for the time i have to imagine that he's actually done a masterful job.
all these things do little to damage a good movie. about the only thing really bad is purposefully so; his mother is an annoying control freak!
a well done film that holds its ground, despite some minor flaws. well worth seeing. (7/10)
