Day 22 was another big movie day, and thanks to it I am now only four movies away from my goal of fifty movies this month. The day began with a viewing of Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone (2001). This is a very tense ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War. The movie just oozes atmosphere and fills you with an inescapable feeling of dread. I always enjoy Guillermo del Toro's work and like many others, I was extremely disappointed when he recently cancelled his plans to bring H.P. Lovecraft's At The Mountains Of Madness to the big screen. I have heard rumors that he's expressed interest in making a Swamp Thing film and, being a giant Swamp Thing fanboy, it boggles my mind to imagine what a cool movie that would be. I'm really glad I had a chance to finally check out The Devil's Backbone though, and I give it 10 out of 12 beers.
"God and Satan are on a train full of break dancing teenagers..."
That's all the description I needed to read before deciding to purchase this DVD. Featured on the same 4-movie pack as Knight Chills, Night Train To Terror (1985) is apparently something of a cult classic, though I'd never heard of it. It's certainly worthy of cult movie status. Night Train To Terror is an anthology horror film that is actually spliced together from three other unfinished films; Scream Your Head Off, Death Wish Club, and Cataclysm. Scream Your Head Off and Cataclysm both feature a young Richard Moll (Bull from Night Court and Big Ben from House). There are also plenty of stop-motion special effects which are always awesome to see in a movie. Between these poorly edited together stories, we're treated to God and the Devil arguing over who gets their souls while some extremely 80's young people sing the same song over and over again. The third story seems to drag on a bit but there's no doubt about it, Night Train To Terror is a lot of fun and should definitely be watched if you're a fan of movies that are so bad they're good. 9 out of 12 beers.
Because it was the only Stephen King movie I could think of that I haven't seen, I sat down to watch Sometimes They Come Back (1991). For a TV movie, it really wasn't bad. It deals with a school teacher who comes back to his home town for a teaching job, but instead is forced to confront his past which is literally coming back to haunt him. It's pretty typical Stephen King fare with greaser bullies, but it pulls it off. 8 1/2 out of 12 beers.
Next up was The Devil Rides Out (1968). This is a very enjoyable Hammer film starring Christopher Lee. Also known as The Devil's Bride, it has Christopher Lee and his companions defending themselves against a group of satanists. The effects are dated, but it kept me very entertained. 8 out of 12 beers.
Finally at the end of the night, I enjoyed some German beer and sat down in front of some fine German cinema. Violent Shit (1989) is exactly what it claims to be. One of Germany's infamous shot-on-video gore films, Violent Shit is filled with completely unconvincing but unnervingly extended scenes of blood and guts. Violent Shit is bad, but you shouldn't really be expecting Masterpiece Theater when your main character is known as K The Butcher Shitter. Violent Shit doesn't have much of a plot, and what little it does have doesn't make much sense anyway. However if you just want to watch a lot of gore, this film is for you. It was a decent way to round out the night. 6 out of 12 beers.
No comments:
Post a Comment