DAMIEN : OMEN II: (1978, USA)

Directed by: Don Taylor

The second Omen entry fails as most sequels do in trying to recapture the velocity of the first. Although there are a lot of Omen style accidents (the elevator death is quite harrowing and creative to say the least) which the films became famous for, the movie seems long and not much fun.

The characters are all a bunch of sniveling twits and Damien's parental guardians especially his uncle who doesn't suspect him until the very closing of the film. Note, by this time most of the cast is dead.

Rating: 2 Skulls

DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS : (1994, Hong Kong)

Starring: Anthony Wong

This film is one of HK´s more notorious CAT III offerings up to date. CAT III is a HongKong rating for movies with incorporate excessive violence and full frontal nudity - often simultanosly. Starring CAT III-regular Anthony Wong as a police detective, this film deals with the gory murder of an entire family - with only the daughter surviving - and its preceding events. During the course of the film we learn the daughter has been abused in countless ways by her dysfunctional family and that the murder was just her final outbreak. Sleaze - this characterizes this flick extremely well. Sex, voyourism, rape, violence, gore ... it´s all there. What makes this flick different from the other CAT III stuff out there is the cheesy and completely out-of-place humor often displayed. Once, for instance, one police officer slips on the brain matter of one murder victim, a guy falls into a cart full with shit while peeping at a showering girl and so on. The only reason for watching this flick is the main actress whose name I unfortunalty have forgotten and who really does a great job. Oh, and she´s good looking as well ;-) Otherwise - a surprisingly dull flick - go and watch BUN MAN or DIARY OF A SERIAL KILLER instead.

Rating: 1 Skull

DAWN OF THE DEAD Directors cut, special collectors edition, LBX and digitally remastered. 2 + tapes
aka Zombie: Dawn Of The Dead : (1978, USA)

Directed by: Georgre A Romero

Probably the best zombie film in history.  What could add even more to an already classic film?  Unseen footage, LBX and the digitally remastering which allows you to enjoy the film even more.  There is also a 2nd tape included which has some previews including foreign ones of the film in its initial release(nothing special).  NOTLD was a ground breaking horror film but this one really made sure that the message, gore and comedic qualities were kept in tact.

The story begins in a television studio where two men are discussing the zombie situation on live television.  A young news lady(Gaylen Ross) is amid the chao's going on in the studio when her boyfriend, the weatherman(David Emge) arrives at the studio and tells her to be at a
landing pad of a place by a certain time to get picked up by a news helicopter he has.

After this we see a swat team engaing in a hostage situation in an apartment building.  Lots of people and zombies are killed in this sequance and utter madness ensues causing a cop to go crazy and be shot by a fellow officer and another one to shoot himself in the head.  Even before all this happens we see a swat member(Reiniger) who talks to a rookie and tells him to stay close only to be shot between the eyes before he can move.

Lots of headshots(I mean lots) and flesh munching along with Savini's exploding head efx which he has used in The Prowler and Maniac as well(nothing can beat the exploding head in Scanners baby, nothing!).  A couple of swat team members (Scott Reiniger and Ken Foree) meet in the basement, Foree being the one who killed the crazy cop on a rampage upstairs.  Reiniger mentions that a friend(Emge) has a helicopter and asks Foree if he wants to go, he accepts.  After a brief encounter with a one legged black priest and the killing of many zombies in the basement they both go A-wall.

They all meet at the landing pad where a cut out scene in the original involving some bandit cops(one who appears in Day Of The Dead, Joseph Pilato) who are also on the run, they wish each other luck.  One of the cross eyed cops asks the four if they have any cigarettes and they all reply no.  When they get in the air they all take out smokes and indulge themselves, ha!

The four(Emge, Foree, Ross and Reiniger) take-off and they witness some unspeakable acts from the air on the ground showing that humans are just as bad or worse than the zombies.  Red-necks and military treat the whole situation like a joke as they slaughter the walking corpses treating it like a fun game.  The four in the helicopter have to stop for a fuel up when they land in an abandoned air station strip were corpses attack them once again.  One zombie has the top part of his head loped off by the helicopter propeller(nice bit of efx there) and numerous zombies including some kid corpse are shot.  Another zombie is bashed with a hammer etc,.

Foree and Emge encounter some conflict between each other over Emge's shitty shooting ability.  They all take-off again and spot a shoppingmall where they make a gradual decision to set down.  Foree and Reiniger go in through a roof opening in the place(by bashing it in) and go on a little trip to scout out the place and to get some things from a couple of shops where they pick up some things they need and/or want.  For the next half an hour the folks secure the building and go on a number of shopping sprees to establish themselves a place to live within the shopping complex.

Theres many zombies to be shot in the skull and Romero shows many being splattered that would make other zombie filmmakers bow their heads in shame.  Reiniger and Foree block off all of the entrances to the shopping complex with big semi-trucks.  They run over a couple of zombies (Reiniger hits one splattering blood on his winshield, he then turns on the wipers and laughs) and shoot lots more.  Reiniger starts to lose his marbles as Foree shoots a zombie about to get Reiniger and blood splatters all over Reinigers face.  Ross picks off a couple of the corpses but they eventually take a chunk out of Reinigers leg.  The only part I found stupid during this sequance was the fact that Emge has the helicopter hovering above all of the action, whats the point?  He can't
do anything to help and he's wasting valuable fuel.

Once inside the crew start to secure everything and get rid of the crowds of zombies which they kill and put in a giant cooler (not shown in the original version).  Once everything has been done Reiniger turns into a zombie from the bite he recieved and is delt with by Foree and buried.  Everything ends off with a gang of bikers(Including Tom Savini) who lay siege to the shopping center and pummel a lot of zombies. Sledgehammerings, shootings, a well placed knife in the throat and the classic machete in the head gore bit which will ever so ever go down in horror film history.

The bikers also shoot Emge in the arm who gets rushed in an elevator by zombies and biten all over including his shoulder, neck and torso.  Emge turns into a zombie while the bikers start to get overtaken by the zombies with help from Foree who wounds a couple of bikers.  The zombies dine on the bikers, gut munching, stomach ripping, and limb dining, along with eviserations etc,.  Foree also kills Savini with a rifle. While the bikers are goners the zombies close in on Foree and Ross.
Ross goes out to the helicopter to escape(Emge taught her how to fly the thing) while Foree stays behind to die.  He quickly changes his mind and the two go off into the sunset with not much fuel left in the helicopter thanks to Emge).

The zombies in the mall are funny, they walk down escelators, get change out of the water fountain and just act zany.  Who can forget the line"When theres no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth". The directors cut is a bonus but there are no extra gore scenes just extra footage.  Digitally remastering makes everything show up nice and clear to see and LBX allows you to see more of the film.  A must see horror classic.  We now know where Rodriguez got the format titles in From Dusk Till Dawn from.  Lucio fulci's Zombie 2, AKA Zombie followed and is also an excellent gore film even though unauthorized.  Day Of The Dead was the real third installment and is also an excellent gore film.  Savini's effects in this one are outstanding.  The collectors edition is worth owning for sure.

Rating:  5 Skulls

DAWN OF THE MUMMY

The only thing redeeming in this is the gore but it takes awhile to get a'flowing. Photographers and models go to some spot in Egypt to shoot on location in an ancient tomb. A mummy rises and brings an army of dumbass zombies with him. Check out the hashish smokers, hehahaha!! Still though this can't come close to Bloodsucking Nazi Zombies in shit level.

Rating: 1 Skull

DAY OF THE DEAD : (1985, USA)

Directed by: George A. Romero

The zombie originator himself George A. Romero returns with another necessary third installment in the dead series. I've read the numerous reviews and comments putting this release down saying it was a clumsy and unnecessary conclusion to the first two. What do they know, they just don't make gore films like this anymore. The story concerns the surviving few of the zombie epidemic which has been well underway for quite some time now. The survivors dwell in an underground army bunker and consist of three scientists, a helicopter pilot, a communications expert and numerous unlikable soldiers especially the one named Steele and the commander Rhodes.

The scientists are conducting silly experiments on zombies to figure out how to control them. The head scientist Logan or Frankenstein as he's known in the film is a real nutcase who starts using military corpses for his experiments. Logan develops a very bizarre relationship with a zombie he names Bub. Once commander Rhodes finds out about the experiments in using his soldiers he kills Logan and Bub gets quite pissed taking revenge at the end of the film.

Lots of bickering in this between the female scientist and the dickhead military commander concering their research and her male companion who basically seals everyone's death warrant at the end of the film. What I really loved about this was Savini's gruesome and ghastly make-up effects which are some of his best he's ever done in my opinion. flesh ripping, gut spilling, gory zombie bites, head drilling, moving decapitated heads, cool head splitting with a shovel, numerous head shots, cool limb amputation which the stump we see causterized, machine gun blastings. There's an amazing scene where a head is ripped off and the facial features are still moving while the voice box delivers an OTT scream. The top part of a head is ripped off, eyeball is scratched out and even a gun in the mouth suicide.

The best sequance being the head commander getting completely ripped in half. We then see an orgy of flesh, bone and gut munching mayhem all around the bunker. The three survivors make it to the helicopter and they fly to a tropical island. Not too many likable characters except for the black helicopter pilot and the radio communications drunk. Worth seeing, you bet yer ass.

Rating: 4 ½ Skulls

DEAD AND BURIED: (1981, USA)

Directed by: Gary A. Sherman

Ultra bizarre horror tale written by Dan O' Bannon. It's about the strange deaths in a small town called Potters Bluff. A group of folks are slaughtering outsiders in a particularly brutal fashion and then they are taking photos of the victims to keep all the good memories.

This film could qualify as horror David Lynch style, only better. Really offbeat and the conclusion works so well, although it is hard to understand what is going on. Call this a piece of strange horror in the extremist sense of the word. Good effects by Stan Winston.

Rating: 3 ½ Skulls

DEADLY SPAWN aka Return Of The Aliens Deadly Spawn: (1983, USA)

Directed by: Douglas McKeown

Micro budgeted alien/gore/monster movie about an alien that lands near a small hillside community. The scenes where the small town is shown make it look like the models used in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood the film is on such a low budget. Admittingly I liked the film, it had some great cheese ball gore including a scene where a room full of old ladies are attacked by a bunch of smaller leech like aliens.

What the makes the film the best though (hehe) is the model, toy like looking landscapes that I mentioned above, very funny shit indeed. Almost like Peter Jackson trying to make Bad Taste but on an even lower budget, although the films have nothing in common. I say check it out, you'll have a laugh and probably enjoy it if your a more non-discriminating horror film viewer.

Rating: 3 ½ Skulls

DEAD NEXT DOOR : (1989, USA)

Directed by: J.R. Bookwalter

Late nineteen eighties attempt to homage George A. Romero's dead flicks especially Dawn and Day Of The Dead. The Evil Dead influences are there as well. This is low budget material with tons of sauce but it has all been done before over and over and over.........Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence worked a lot better than this due to the hilarious cheesy dubbing job and Redneck Zombies was also another step up in the zombie genre since Troma's humor prevailed over the gore which was good as well but the film offered more.

This has some good moments but it just doesn't work. Its about the world being taken over by zombies and the swat team who fight them while scientists experiment on the corpses and other organizations try to protect the zombies. If you've seen Romero's stuff you'll recognize many scenes. Director Bookwalter wanted it to pay tribute so he accomplished his goal. After the film is over there is loads of footage to watch about the film. Sam Raimi financed the film, Scott Spiegel has a role in it and Bruce Campbell did some music I believe.

Rating: 2 Skulls

THE DEAD ZONE : (1983, USA)

Directed by: David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg's only sensible film. It doesn't delve off into bizarre territory like his usual films (I loved Videodrome though). This film is just plane fantastic. The cast are excellent especially when you have Christopher Walken in the lead role and Martin Sheen as an evil politician bastard.

It's all about Walken who one night while coming home from work gets into a bad accident. He remains in a coma for years. When he does finally wake up everything has changed. His wife for example has re-married and now he has ESP to predict terrible things that are about to happen.

Walken helps out a lot of people including the police to catch a serial killer. He also stops an evil politician played by Sheen from starting a nuclear war. This is one good film and even the general plot lets you know its a real winner. Magnificent acting, suspense and conclusion. See it I say!

Rating:  5 Skulls

DEEP RED: THE HATCHET MURDERS aka Profondo Rosso, Suspiria 2, Dripping Deep Red, Sabre Tooth Tiger : (1976, Italy)

Direceted by: Dario Argento

First off to straighten up any misunderstandings this is not Suspiria 2 although it is labeled as so. Inferno is the actual somewhat of a sequal to Suspiria. This film was made before Suspiria so use your head folks. Well what we do have here is more Argento excellence! yeah he's a strange dude but boy does he know how to make a brutal murder mystery. Once again an unknown killer is knocking off patrons it is pissed off with. Murder after grueling murder but standard slasher fare is not what you'll find here.

Masterful artistry, very intriguing mystery which doesn't unfold completely till the very end with a twist and the regular go out with a bang Argento ending. The murderer always has to have an amazing demise since Argento does love the murderers he creates in his films. The Goblin score is as always outstanding but especially in this one. Great creative piece of film excellence.

Rating: 4 Skulls

DEEP STAR SIX : (1989, USA)

A group of underwater construction engineers unleash an ancient creature which soon attacks their underwater habitat. The giant monster which resembles a massive lobster is the real thrill in this blatant copycat of the MANY underwater films of 1989. Starring Miguel Ferrer, Matt McCoy and Nia Peebles. The only reasons to rent this film are to watch McCoy get munched by the lobster and to watch Ferrer get a real bad case of the bends. Made by Sean Cunningham who should have known better. BTW- The other underwater movies were Lords of The Deep, Leviathan and The Abyss.

THE DEER HUNTER : (1978, USA)

Directed by: Michael Cimino

One of my favorite non-horror flicks of all time and an Oscar winning classic. Don't get me wrong even if it didn't win any awards I'd still love it. I watched Oscar winning Raging Bull, English Patient and The Piano and I thought they all sucked. At least this film actually deserved it. If you haven't already seen this then you should make it a point to do so.

It's about a group of small town steel workers and their daily trials at a local bar and on hunting trips. The men played by Christopher Walken, Robert De Niro and John Voight eventually go to the Vietnam war and it changes their lives for the worse.

The Russian roulette scenes are hair raising and the conclusion is heart breaking depending on how much you are into movies and if you appreciate good ones like myself. Keep your eyes peeled for this if you haven't had the pleasure of viewing it yet.

Rating: 5 Skulls

DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE aka Cemetry Man : (1995, Italy)

Directed by: Michele Soavi

Starring: Ruppert Everett, Anna Falchi

Arguably the best horror movie to be released in this decade. The films deals with the adventures of Franceso Dellamorte (played by Ruppert Everett), solitary cementry caretaker in a small italian village. His only companion is is stupid assisstant Gnaghi (played by Jazz musican Francois Hadji-Lazaro) who speaks only in grunts. But the cementry Dellamorte tends for has a little problem - before the sixt day after their burial, the dead come back to live due to some sudden and mysterious epedemic. They can only be killed by splitting their head open - a .45 bullet works best, but Dellamorte isn´t above using shovels for this work. But then She (Anna Falchi - model turned actress) steps into Dellamortes live and things start to get difficult. This film is probably the most elegant looking thing ever put to cellouid - imagine Sam Raimi, the Coen Brothers, Terry Gilliam (with whom Soavi, the director actually worked before) and Peter Jackson doing a movie together and it might look like Dellamore Dellamorte (meaning Friend of love, Friend of death). One camera angle looks better than the first, one gore scene tops the other, the musical score works great, Everett and Falchi are awful in their roles, etc.. Did I already mention that I love this film? The whole film has a very dreamlike feeling to it which is especially transparent in it´s final minutes - where Dellamorte and Gnaghi finally leave their little village to find out 'how the rest of the world looks like' only to discover that for them, the rest of the world doesn´t exist. One of my absolute favorites in the horror departement.

Rating: Five Skulls

DEMONIA : (Italy)

Directed by: Lucio Fulci

One of Fulci's cheesier efforts. I'm sure a lot would say everything he makes is cheese but I like most of his work excluding a few.

Demonia is about a group of archaeologists who stumble upon an underground site where years ago nuns were persecuted and crucified.(guess what, they're spirits come back for revenge. Bet ya didn't see that one coming!) Uninteresting film really. Director Fulci plays a detective. Not much gore either but there are a couple of memorable gore moments. One being the best knife stabbing in the neck I have ever seen where the camera doesn't change angles. Another one which looks obviously fake is the man who is ripped completely in two by ropes tied to both of his legs. For Fulci diehards only. I'd have to say I've seen a lot worse.

Rating: 3 Skulls

DEMONS : (1985, Italy)

Directed by: Lamberto Bava

Dario Argento produced film about the opening of a new horror movie in a theatre called the Metropol. The beginning has a strange looking fella distributing tickets. A girl gets a couple for her and her friend. Film wastes little time with character or plot development. A number of patrons go to the theatre for the film when a black lady cuts herself with a demon mask. When the movie they are watching in the theatre unfolds the same way it is evident something strange is going on. A guy in the film they are watching gets scratched after putting on a demon mask. Soon the black woman who was scratched earlier is turned into a green slime slobbering demon and the cycle continues.

The remaining people in the theatre must fight for their lives against the drooling mongrels. Lots of cheesy gore but nothing you haven't seen before except for a blind man getting his eyes gouged out (pretty interesting concept). Some unbelievably bad plot twists and dubbing bring this waaaaaay down. The ending just plain stinks. The demons shall take over the worrrrrrrld! The sequal is much worse.

Rating: 2 ½ Skulls

DEMON WIND: (1990, USA)

Directed by: Charles Phillip Moore

A horror film too polished for its own good. The characters all looking like they are recovering from the eighties and they're acting being incredibly unconvincing. Corny dialogue, horrible special effects and bad editing make this a most unpleasant and extremely fall asleep while watching worthy film. Its almost like the film company wanted a film which wouldn't gain big success but also wouldn't please the low budget gore crowd, what audience exactly were they aiming for? I'll be damned if I know.

The film is about a man who goes to his grandparents cabin to find out what happened to them, of course he brings along some friends for victims. This tries to be along the lines of Evil Dead and Night Of The Living Dead with zombies and demon spirits possessing corpses it doesn't work for a second. A couple of interesting characters which are magicians have a non horror cliche ridden moment which strangely enough turns into a horror cliche where they know a demon is out there but go out anyway. Another one to add to your movies to avoid list.

Rating: 1 Skull

THE DENTIST : (1996, USA)

Directed by: Brian Yuzna
 
Brillant film which was bound to be made sooner or later.  After a brief but nearly not as effective dentist scene in Marathon Man we are given the full treatment in this film.  This great little movie is pulled off with quite the talent by Yuzna.  The film begins with clean, rich dentist Corben Bernsen who gets upset over the measliest of things like cufflings.  Well he goes totally over the edge when he finds out the filthy pool man is fooling around with his wife.  At first he does'nt suspect it but as soon as he discovers this brown grime every where even on his own clothes he goes awry in the mind and is drove to the brink of insanity.  The pills he is constantly taking could also have something
to do with it.

He gets a gun from his car and plans on killing the pool man.  Soon he goes to follow the pool man next door to kill him when Bernsen finds out that the pool guy is also fooling around with his next door neighbour. A dog attack Bernsen out by the house and he shoots it, he then goes to work and has some very serious problems because his worries at home are tormenting him.  His employees notice and suggest he should take the day off.

During the evening he plans something special for his wife.  He straps her into a dentist chair and proceeds to extract every one of her teeth without any painkiller in close up detail.  The next day he puts his wife out by the pool for the pool cleaner to notice and come over by her.  When the guy does just that he notices that his wife is toothless, Bernsen pops out with a carving knife and slashes the sucker to death. The next day at work the fun begins as every patient Bernsen gets he
thinks about his wife and some interesting stuff happens.

One patient he works on who is his next door neighbour he jams a painkiller needle into her gums and drills her teeth messily ripping them to crumbly bits all  in close up style.  Bernsens employees start to notice something wrong with him especially when he strips one of his patients on sleeping gas and tries to make love to her thinking its his wife.  One of his helpers then gets angry at him and threatens to tell someone about what he has been doing so he strangles her with a stocking
belonging to the previous lady.

Bernsen becomes especially tight under the collar when his tax auditor arrives to have some work done on his teeth.  The fellow has his mouth stretched unbelievably wide with a face device and then his teeth and tongue are drilled throroughly sloppy like.  Bernsen also injects another one of his assisstants with a needle through the temple. Everything comes to a close when the police discover Bernsens wife upstairs in his house and they almost apprehend him before he kills a young lady about to have her braces removed.  The main detective is played by Ken Foree.  The ending has Bernsen still practising in a dental school  before he is thrown into a mental hospital.  He has to have a check up one day and to his dismay the dentist is his wife.

An enjoyable watch for those who are'nt squirmy againist having dental work done.  This is good and different than most of Yuzna's stuff, it will be good to see what he comes up with next.  Bernsens character is delightfully OTT in his role and he plays it well.  All I can say is I thought it was worth seeing.

Rating: 4 Skulls 

DERANGED : (1974, USA)

Directed by: Jeff Gillen

Early classic Psycho-horror epic inspired by the aforementioned film but which inspired The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This is a very differently made film, low budget all the way but for some reason the budget just makes it all the more authentic. Based on real life murderer Ed Gein and a landmark for Tom Savini buffs as this is Savini's first make-up effects work. Just to let you know there isn't much gore in this although the make-up is still good.

I believe there are two other films out there with the same name both about crazy chicks getting revenge or something, make sure you don't get them mixed up! This film is a very rare item since it was never officially released to home video in North America. Movie is about a mother loving middle aged man played with charming and sadistic glee by Roberts Blossom. Blossom loses his ma and digs her up after she is buried. He then gets other chicks to accompany her by killing living victims.

This is a really great little horror gem and it comes highly recommended by yours truly! one annoyance which must be pointed out though is the newscaster who keeps butting in throughout the film with his straightfaced commentary.  

Rating: 5 Skulls

DEMENTED

This film has a lady vacationing when she is raped by a gang of hoods wearing stockings over their heads. She goes home after the incident but it is easy to tell she has not recovered from her situation.

A gang of neighborhood youth's decide to pull a prank on her by breaking into her house and frightening her for some unapparent reason. When they do the woman thinks its the gang of men who raped her so she takes revenge. She castrates one with a wire and shotguns another among other things. Film gets boring and is a waste of your time, no gore either. Kinda reminds me of I Spit On Your Grave but not as brutal.

Rating: 1 Skull

DIE HARD : (1988, USA)

Directed by: John Mctiernan

One of the best action films around today which still provides a roller coaster ride of nonstop action, entertainment and thrills not to mention humor. Bruce Willis plays an everyday joe who is also a cop named John McClane. McClane is home for the holidays and is to meet up with his wife (Bonnie Bedelia) at her workplace which is at a corporate high-rise office building empire (whew!). While a Christmas celebration ensues in the place terrorists led by Alan Rickman in a wonderfully OTT bad guy role takes total control of the building.

Everyone is rounded up except Willis who saves the day but not easily hence the title. He has some help from a black cop who is on that cheese TV show Family Matters. McClane doesn't know martial arts and he talks an awful lot for a an action hero. This is the great thing about the film. Willis plays the normal guy hero. This is the type of action film that is worth both your time and money. The sequal is also quite good but the third is a little too much, still it is worth seeing if you already haven't.

Rating: 5 Skulls

DOLEMITE 2: THE HUMAN TORNADO

Another seventies offering of blaxplotation cheese. This sequal gave me no desire whatsoever to see the original. Some flabby ass black guy goes around adding in rhymes into whatever he says (rap maybe?). Movie is one of the most awful ever made and don't even think of looking for a plot. Stop motion karate fights that go on for far too long and are ridiculous. A nice looking black chick with big tits. One of the worst endings and some of the crappiest acting ever put on film.

I noticed Ernie Hudson (Crow, Basketball Diaries, Congo etc) had a role as one o' Dolemites cronies. The only film I ever watched and struggled through it. Yep Dolemite sure is da meanest motherfucka ta eva fall outta his mammy's ass! Anyone ever heard of Rudy Ray Moore after this? doesn't surprise me. You might tell me to lighten up or that I'm an evil white devil racist but you can't face the fact that this movie is utter shit and deserves it's rating respectfully.

Rating: 0 Skulls

DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING : (Italy)

Directed by: Lucio Fulci

When I began watching this I was utterly amazed it was a Fulci film. I am very familiar with his gore films but this goes way beyond that territory. This film can only be described as masterful. Borrowing from Argento's pattern of animal film naming like Cat O' Nine Tails and Four Flies On Grey Velvet. Fulci delivers a great mystery which doesn't unfold until the very end. Fulci could have made the killing which happens off-screen very gratuitous but except for a couple of scenes they are nothing compared to his later rampage.

Everything begins when young boys in a small town are beginning to be murdered. The title involves a young mentally handicapped girl whose reactions to the murders she witnesses are to cut the heads off her dolls, one which is a duckling. The chain whipping scene in this was later used in The Beyond. Great conclusion even if exaggerated. This ultimately proves Fulci had some of the greatest film making talent to come out of Italy. A good murder mystery always brightens my eyes.

Rating: 5 Skulls

DR. BUTCHER M.D. aka Queen Of The Cannibals,Zombi Holocaust,Island Of The Last Zombies : (1979, Italy)

Directed by: Frank Martin (Marino Girolami)

Another Italian gorefest this time by American retitled Marino Girolami.  Actually this film is pretty good.  it has loads of gore and zombies along with cannibals.  it starts out with a psychotic cutting up bodies for particular parts to consume (hand, heart) at a hospital.  The cheesy music in this is so bad its good.  We are introduced to a nurse and a reporter (Alexandra Delli Colli, Ian McCollough).  The carnage at the hospital continues until an employee of the place is caught doing the deed.  He jumps out a window(his arm comes off when he falls, when he's shown again his arm is still there, hilarious).

Colli and McCollough decide to investigate.  Colli's apartment is ransacked and an ancient dagger is stolen.  A ritualistic sign is marked on her wall which was the same one marked on the man who was stealing parts from bodies at the hospital.  Eventually Colli and McCollough go along with a team to an island named after the ancient marking (the purpose is never made clear).  Once there McCollough suspects their guide is trying to mislead them.  The head scientist of the place (Donald O' Brian) also seems very strange.  On the Island everyone on the team is picked off.  Scenes of mangled bodies and rotting heads, one poor sucker is impaled on a jungle trap and then gets his guts ripped out and feasted on by the cannibals (excellent gore here).

Another fellow on the explorer team gets his chest ripped open and organs feasted upon along with his eyes poked out (more excellent gore here).  McCollough chews a zombies head with an outboard motor sending bloody chunks of his head and brain flying everywhere, an excellent kill sequance.  A female reporter gets abducted and scalped, she then has her brain removed by mad docter O' Brian.  Colli gets taken by the cannibals but she is worshipped by them(orgin of original title maybe?).  McCollough gets captured by O' Brian and is to be used in an experiment.  Colli's cannibals save the day surprisingly and McCollough along with Colli escape while everyone burns in the building.  The ending has zero gore and is really a let down.  You should also catch the Dawn Of The Dead Hommage (machete in the forehead).  This is a decent little film.  There's enough gore and nudity (Colli looks very delectable indeed) to keep me entertained.  Not bad at all

Rating: 3 Skulls

DRESSED TO KILL: (1980, USA)

Directed by : Brian De Palma

After hearing so much about this film I was anxious to see it but the outcome didn't far so well. It is widely known that De Palma was in his stage of borrowing heavily from Hitchcock and some scenes in this reveal it heavily.

In Dressed To Kill Angie Dickenson plays a sexually repressed housewife looking for some adventure in her sex life. She meets a man at a museum in what some call a classic wordless moment and they eventually sleep with each other in a hotel room. When Dickenson leaves she is killed in an elevator by what appears to be a woman in another famous scene.

Prostitute Nancy Allen witnesses the murder and along with Dickensons son investigates the matter. Other actors include Dennis Franz as a sleazy cop and Michael Caine as a passive psychiatrist. Not a bad film but nothing I would label as a classic or must see, only films like Tromeo And Juliet get that kind of status (hehe).

Rating: 3 Skulls

DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRING AND LOVE THE BOMB : (1964, UK)

What seemed like an impossible endeavor in the height of the cold war may very well be the most influential and best known Black Comedy ever made. Stanley Kubrik's adaptation of the novel Red Alert by Peter George begins with a wonderful scene of a B-52 refueling in mid air, we then shift over to Gen. Jack D Ripper (Sterling Hayden), a psychotic man who contends that communist influence has penetrated everything including his bodily fluids and decides to launch an all out strike to purge these influences. His sheepish XO Flt Captain Mandrake (Peter Sellers) does his best to keep the Gen. in his right mind and tries to get him to recall the bombers. The actions leave President Merkin Muffley (Sellers) and his advisors led by Gen. Buck Turgidson (George C Scott), stammering as they argue on what is the best way to take out the bombers and unintentionally make it worse. We are then introduced to the enigmatic Dr. Strangelove (Sellers once again), a former Nazi scientist who gives the president advice while at the same time suggesting some rather bizarre notions. We then see the Russian Ambassador de Sadesky arrive and the verbal quiffs between him and Scott are timeless. The doomsday bomber crew led by Maj. TJ "King" Kong (Slim Pickens), evades the Russians and fly's a course to certain Armageddon all without the knowledge that their orders are quite bogus and will result in a Russian doomsday device destroying the world. At the same time Capt. Mandrake must contend with the gung ho army Col. Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) , who will hold him liable to the Coca Cola company for breaking a vending machine. The movie is filled with so many gags and such colorful dialogue the viewer is almost made to forget the total seriousness of the subject matter and made to feel like the whole cold war is nothing more then a over blown street bully showdown. With excellent direction, and a dynamic cast of little known stars, most notable the stellar Peter Sellers who plays three different characters. Kubrik masterfully shifts between the three major scenes with the skill and panache of a seasoned veteran. His common theme of dehumanization and our total relinquishment on machines is most apparent in this apocalyptic tale. The finale is worth seeing just to see Slim Pickens go out in style. Ironically the film was to have a custard pie fight and was actually filmed and is available on the Laser Disk. A classic that must be seen to be fully appreciated if noting more then to admire the talents of Peter Sellers in three of the most unique roles of his career.