Unwelcome Caller

The first of Edgar Allan Poe’s famed horror stories to come to life at American International Pictures with Roger Corman at the helm and Vincent Price in the starring role, House of Usher (1960), was a huge success... spawning numerous gothic Poe adaptations that would bring the team back together in the near future. With Price taking on the role of the titular Roderick Usher, the man is an utter emotional mess, belying his impeccably manicured appearance. Severely sensitive to noise, light, and taste, he demands hushed voices, minimal natural or candle light at all times, and bland gruel as the meal of choice.

A British slasher film parading as your prototypical American one, 1986's Slaughter High (which was originally going to be more accurately titled April Fool’s Day, but changed after a conflict arose with a Paramount movie coming out with the same name), written and directed by triumvirate George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, and Peter Mackenzie Litten, is a by the books horror movie with some above average kills... and, as we all know in this sub-genre, that is usually what truly stands out. Following a group of high school hot shot jerks led by pretty girl Carol Manning (Caroline Munro – Bond girl Naomi from The Spy Who Loved Me; as well as the Hammer horror film Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter), cruel prankster Skip Pollack (Carmine Iannaccone), feigners Ted Harrison (Michael Safran) and Carl Putney (John Segal), slutty Stella (Donna Yeager), and other entourage members, their sole goal is to sabotage the life of science nerd Marty (Simon Scuddamore). As these things do, they take the jester prank way too far... leaving the teen in a horribly disfigured state.

For one of the soon to be illustrious monsters for their slate of horror movies, Universal turned to the writing of H.G. Wells, bringing to life his novel The Invisible Man (1933), with the director of 1931's Frankenstein, James Whale, given another opportunity to envision one of their fiends for cinematic life. Combining technical precision, maniacal madness, and more than a touch of Whale’s famed black comedy, the classic tale follows an on the run Doctor, Jack Griffin (basically just Claude Rains’ masterful voice doing all the work... though he wasn’t the original choice – Frankenstein stars Boris Karloff and Colin Clive both said no), who finds his way to a tiny British village.

The first Missed the Bloody Cut horror selection of this 2025, here are some more horror movies that did not meet my strict criteria (a rating of 7.0 or higher). . . but are still entertaining films (horror fanatics may enjoy) that do not deserve to be ignored like a radiation spill in a secret government location – and that are definitely worth a watch (just maybe not several re-watches).

Being labeled as the final entry in the franchise in both title and talk from those in the know, The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025), produced by original mastermind James Wan and directed by Michael Chaves (who also manned the third feature), there is no denying that it has a finale feel to it... though, like any lucrative cinematic domain, a haunted door is always found swinging open for another sequel. Now twelve years on from the original horror filled offering, this adventure follows Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) both forward and backward, opening with a flashback to very early on in their paranormal investigating days when their daughter was first born (keep your eye on an ominous antique mirror), then jumping forward some twenty-two years later into the 1980s... where they’ve taken a step back from their inspections due to Ed’s weak heart.

Following in the wake of F.W. Murnau’s iconic original 1922 version and the Werner Herzog1979 edition starring Klaus Kinski, modern maestro Robert Eggers follows up his memorable movies The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019), and his sole non horror production The Northman (2022) with his longtime passion project Nosferatu (2024) – which he both wrote the screenplay for and also directed (he has been working on the project since 2015). Once again demonstrating his love for folkloric horror and accurate historical touches, the first two things immediately noticed are its use of real film (which has a distinct look when compared to digital)