Singing the Blues

It’s just never a good sign when you’re honeymooning in the early 20th century Bavarian countryside and your brand new automobile runs out of petrol. The opening of a rather lesser known Hammer horror film (following a little bit of early staking action), The Kiss of the Vampire (1963), directed by Don Sharp, is shockingly without stalwarts Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing. The couple: Gerald (Edward de Souza) and Marianne (Jennifer Daniel), are left with little option. With the former walking ahead hoping for some aid, the latter is soon scared by a storm, bumping into the rather inimical Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans)... coming across more like a morose vagabond than a learned man. All the while, a man from a hilltop manor, Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), looks on with intrigue with the use of his telescope.

The second Missed the Bloody Cut horror selection of this 2024, 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 an ever growing group of peckish birds – and that are definitely worth a watch (just maybe not several re-watches).

The first Missed the Bloody Cut horror selection of this 2024, 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 fled from like a creature walking more slowly than a senior with a walker – and that are definitely worth a watch (just maybe not several re-watches).

Loosely based upon Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story, “The Pit and the Pendulum”, the violently titled West German film The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967), directed by Harald Reinl, is a meandering 18th century set gothic horror mood piece starring the legendary Christopher Lee. For those of you who revel in the wild extravagance of how some of these European horror pictures have a list of different titles around the world, here we go – The Blood Demon, The Snake Pit and the Pendulum (perhaps an abandoned Indiana Jones title as well), Blood of the Virgins, and lastly, Castle of the Walking Dead. Now, reading that primary title, the first question might be... just who is this Dr. Sadism? And, of course, the answer that only makes sense is that it is clearly no one.

Alfred Hitchcock: “When we tell a story in cinema we should resort to dialogue only when it's impossible to do otherwise. I always try to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and bits of film in between.” It is quite clear that Dario Argento took this quote from the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, to heart when co-writing and directing his 1977 horror film Suspiria. An atmospheric mood piece, for much of its runtime, it plays as close to a silent film as you can get.

If you’re looking for a cool piece of trivia you probably didn’t know, Revenge of the Creature (1955), the sequel to the Universal monster movie classic Creature from the Black Lagoon, holds the distinction of being Clint Eastwood’s first feature film (a small role as Lab Technician Jennings... his second role for anyone asking – Francis in the Navy). Helmed once again by Jack Arnold, the story picks up quite promptly after where the original left off. Having heard of the impressive gill-man specimen that has been seen in an Amazonian lagoon, the Ocean Harbor Oceanarium in Florida sends off a small but well prepared team to capture the unknown species with the help of the Captain who helmed the first venture, Lucas (Nestor Paiva returning). After a bit of a struggle, they’re able to transport it back from the Amazon, chaining it in a tank in the above mentioned tourist attraction and zoology study centre.