Sci Fi Invasion was what I thought it would be. I liked it, overall, and despite never rewatching any of those since I think it ended up leaving a pleasant taste in my mouth. It was a bad idea, and I knew it, to go from that to the 70s and 80s set. I was gifted these sets, and I wasn't going to not watch them, so I did, and I lived through it. I was surprised about how many dramas were in those, and that actually elevated them ever so slightly.
Anyways, I am glad to say this set was a lot of fun and I think ratings wise it will be the highest rated. It felt like a breeze to get through, I had seen a lot of these already and that helped, but overall I think it was the horror genre and the presence of newer films, Italian films, and some weird other ones that helped.
So anyways, the reviews.
The Amazing Transparent Man - Watched before the set, this concerns a criminal who gets turned invisible by a doctor. Obviously this plan goes wrong and soon invisible baddie is tangling with cops and the invisibilty is wearing off. 3.5 stars.
Anatomy of a Psycho - A dramatic film about a young criminal who gets in over his head. Good acting, and despite an Ed Wood script it's fine. Fine dramatic acting elevates it quite a bit. 3 stars.
Blood Sabbath - A Vietnam vet has a crazy interaction with a water nymph and some witches in this light T&A tease. Hypnotic and bizarre 70's experimentation is cool, but bare bones of a plot. 2.5 stars.
Bloody Pit of Horror - Marquis de Sade influenced Spanish thing about a guy in a luchadore costume torturing people in a castle. It's by the numbers, but it could be seen a slasher in some lights. 3.5 down to 3 stars.
Crucible of Horror - Michael Gough is a tough patriarch in this very British thriller, and once he's killed he returns from the dead! It's a slower film, but it's pretty good Hammer style. I rated it 2, raising it to 3 stars.
Curse of Bigfoot - a 1958 horror film not about Bigfoot got turned into a Bigfoot movie with some extra footage, and this is it! Campy fun, ridiculous looking monster. It's fun and 70's, 3.5 stars.
Death in the Shadows - a mystery always grabs me, especially when it stars a well acted pretty woman and is produced in Europe. This film from Holland has all that and when a girl has her mother killed it opens up a whole twisted mystery. 4 star film.
Death Warmed Up - Cult film from New Zealand where a cop joins a bike gang and then (probably) something or other happens. Supposedly has a huge cult following I guess. Hard to follow but fun, 3 stars.
The Devil's Nightmare - Creepy castle is the home of a succubus where people come...it's one of the few films with nudity, and lots of it. Because of the nudity I gave it 3.5, probably deserves 2.5.
The Devil's Possessed - A medieval sword and sandal swashbuckler story, I was bored stiff by this one. Some of these were simply too by-the-numbers. I gave it 1 star, don't remember it now but I'll stand by it.
Doctor Jekyll and the Werewolf - Doctor Jeyll uses the Hyde formula on a werewolf in this crossover film. The beginning is great with tons of intrigue and atmosphere, but it slows down. 3 stars.
Don't Answer the Phone - A killer is terrorizing a town somewhere by calling and harrassing people and a radio station. I didn't rewatch this one, don't remember it, but my review speaks highly of it and I gave it 3 stars.
Double Exposure - stylized 70's thriller about a photographer having violent dreams and perhaps they're related to real life killings? Good cast, keeps you interested. Well made/acted, 4 stars.
Dungeor of Harrow - I clearly watched and reviewed this drunk with faulty internet, but I'm not rewatching any more, I am too far gone for that. I believe this was yet another Marquis De Sade something-or-other. No stars.
The Eerie Midnight Horror Show - Exorcist rip off with Italian chick fucking a statue and all sorts of other fun random shit. Has a air of uncertainy and doesn't make a lot of sense, but I loved it and gave it a 4.
The Embalmer - A guy kills people, there's a lot of talking, I didn't pay much attention. I think this one had a similar plot to another on the set, two restaurants doing creepy things to food on one set! 2 stars I'll lower to 1.
Evil Brain from Outer Space - Starman fights villains in this signature difficult to follow Japanese translated TV series. It's weird but sorta fun if you're high, 2.5 stars seems enough.
Fangs of the Living Dead - Anita Ekberg stars in this bizarre Italian schlocky film with lots of promise and no payoff. This needed a hook, whether it was violence or nudity, instead it has neither and just drags. 1.5 stars.
Frankenstien 80 - A super 70's update of the Frankenstien story for a "modern" audience, people get killed and crazy stuff happens in this insane nudity-filled romp. Italian giallo style late entry. 4 stars.
Grave of the Vampire - Faux Cameron Mitchell stars in this bizarre story of a woman who is raped by the undead, gives birth to a monster baby that drinks blood, it grows up and turns good, and battles it's father. Fun, fun film. 4 stars.
Green Eyes - 1934 murder mystery whodunnit with stuffy Inspector Crofton questioning people. Meh, 1.5 stars.
Guru the Mad Monk - super amateur Z-movie with guys in terrible costumes saying awful dialogue. I'm sure some like the movie. 1.5 stars.
Hands of Steel - This Terminator ripoff suffered from being too low budget, but the acting is solid. Good cast tries hard to make you like it, but it suffers from some bad pacing. I liked it despite the lag in the middle, 3.5 stars.
Horror Rises from the Tomb - Paul Naschy wins the most titles award on the set! I don't remember this, but I gave it 3 stars.
The House by the Cemetary - Lucio Fulci makes an appearance on the set in this uneven but ultimately great film. Weird noises are heard in a new house, could it be haunted? The end will leave you loving it, 4 stars.
The House that Screamed - Edited for TV proto-Giallo film with some great stylized kills and erotica. 4 stars.
It Happened at Nightmare Inn - A young girl comes to a hotel looking for her friend, and the innkeepers have something to hide. A boring and disjointed film. Blah, predictable, 1 star.
Keep My Grave Open - A predictable plot about a crazy woman and her unseen brother. You know how this is going to go. Violence isn't even going to make this one better. 1.5 stars.
Manos: The Hands of Fate - Well, I sat through Manos without the MST crew. This is a now notorious bad movie, and it is likely the most amateur thing I've ever seen. It has a bizarre charm and a weird watchability though, and I gave it 4 stars.
The Manster - A classic 50's monster movie where the guy grows two heads. Japanese production and black and white cinematography lends gravitas to a cool movie, a true 50's feeling fun film. I might even rewatch this one, 4 stars I'll bring up to 4.5.
Monstroid - I'd previously seen this with the name Monster. John Carradine in a lake creature monster feature that is very campy. It's somewhere between bad and ok. I gave it 3 stars.
Mutant - Wings Hauser and brother come to a small town where everyone is evil. I saw this is 2015 and liked it, 3.5 stars.
My Mom's a Werewolf - From the 80's set I believe, this was a comedy about a suburban house mom turned into a werewolf. It succeeds with what it tries to do, but you're not going to rewatch it any more than I did. 2.5 stars.
The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave - Convoluted Italian overstuffed turkey about a girl and a BDSM dungeon and a ghost and whatever else. 2.5 stars for the parts I understood.
Night of Bloody Horror - Much like the House that Screamed, these are twins practically except this one is more zany. Some fun technique and a short movie. 3.5 stars.
Night of the Blood Beast - Corman style black and white 50's classic horror, but it's the boring type where you never see the monster. Instead of that cool stuff you get: Talking! 3.5 stars.
The Oval Portrait - Edgar Allen Poe provided a 3 page story, some writers provided the rest in this ghost story about a dead woman portrayed in the portrait. Yawn. No stars.
Point of Terror - Peter Carpenter vanity project in which he is a brilliant successful attractive guy mixed up in a vague plot. The least "Pure Terror" on the set as it has basically no horror in it. 2 stars down to 1.
The Sadist - Arch Hall Jr is a crazy villain in this small scale realistic film. I remember being in love with it, and recently I actually told a friend about this one. I might rewatch one day. I gave it a 4.5.
Satan's Slave - opted not to watch this one again. Michael Gough plays a mystery uncle at a mystery house where a young girl comes to claim her inheritance. Evil is afoot though. Slow, written before my rating system, I give it a 3.5 I guess.
Scared to Death - Bela Lugosi is in this story of an evil hypnotist and a bumbling idiot cop. I hated a large part of it, especially the poorly written and acted dialogue. I opted not to rewatch it, gave it 2 stars.
The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allen Poe again, this time in an actually well done film with eerie effects and good acting. Classic story of a murder and a guilty conscience. 4 stars for this one.
Terror-Creatures from the Grave - Whooo, reading that review is a blast. Well, I'll stand by it. I called it a "sad mess of black and white with a unfollowable plot." 1.5 stars.
Terror in the Jungle - A kid's plane crashes and he is kidnapped by an Amazon tribe that worships his golden hair. Dad comes to the rescue. Some unintentionally funny parts were great. I give this one 3 stars.
They Saved Hitler's Brain - If this doesn't have a huge cult following, I will give you $15. This is a classic, and it's so wonky and stupid it deserves to be seen by everyone. 4 stars.
The Thirsty Dead - Cute kidnapped girls try to escape some evil underground lair in this boring, stupid movie. Half a star.
The Undertaker and His Pals - Guys are killing people and butchering them to serve as meat in their shitty restaurant. Dirty, ugly, stupid, not scary or interesting. Bad horror comedy. 1 star.
The Vampire's Night Orgy - People come to a town that is inhabited solely by vampires, but they don't know it yet! I couldn't hear it, but I'm not going to sit through a rewatch 3 stars.
The Werewolf of Washington - A horror comedy where a presidential aid gets the werewolf curse. It is sometimes funny. I liked it despite the dumb idea, 4 stars seems high, maybe 3.
So yeah. I did it, again. As I do. Like I said, this boxset was a lot more enjoyable. Likely because it was the horror genre. Also, of all the movies I'd previously seen, most of them I did not rewatch I had previously liked at least a bit and had given 2.5 stars or more.
That brings us to ratings. The quick perusal here shows.... 34 movies rated 2.5 stars and above. That's insane. There were no 5 star films on this set, 4.5 being the highest ratings with The Manster and The Sadist. Those are both classic films for me, I didn't rewatch either one and I sorta want to rewatch The Manster whilst stoned. We'll see. Maybe it'll get us a blog bump later here in the year, if I'm really bored and in the mood for something black and white.
The movies here were great. The majority of them were 70s, which we all know I love. I'd say that elevates the total rating of the boxset itself to 4 stars. I feel like it's only a small step away from being a five star boxset.
The bad movies here were not anything worth writing about. Overall, they were simply boring. The Thirsty Dead, The Undertaker and His Pals, Terror Creatures from the Grave, Scared to Death, Point of Terror, The Oval Portrait, Keep My Grave Open, It Happened at Nightmare Inn, Green Eyes, Guru The Mad Monk, Fangs of the Living Dead, The Embalmer, The Dungeon of Harrow and The Devil's Possessed. And I will say of these films, several did try, which is something. Fangs, Thirsty, Oval, Guru, these films put out what they had, it just didn't happen to be enough or strike me the right way.
So... Yeah, that's it. I liked this set. But I did notice that I immediately put it in the donate pile at my house. Then again, I am going to donate a lot of films, so don't look too much into that.
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