The Weeping Angels are an ancient race of aliens from the British Doctor Who television sci-fi series. Steven Moffat, their creator, attributes their appeal to childhood games such as Grandmother’s Footsteps and the notion that every statue is secretly a Weeping Angel.

According to the Doctor, the Weeping Angels “are as old as the universe (or very nearly), but no one really knows where they come from.” He describes them as the loneliest beings in the universe, since their quantum-lock reaction makes it difficult for them to socialise; he also describes them as “the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life-form evolution has ever produced.” That said, in all their TV appearances, the Angels could communicate with each other and work in groups. The quantum-lock is apparently an evolutionary, instinctive, uncontrollable reaction to being seen. However if the Angels are scared themselves, this reaction can be exploited to make them believe they are being watched when they are not. Though they themselves cannot speak, they can communicate through the voice of a person they kill by removing their brains and reanimating their minds. They are also very physically strong, capable of snapping necks, though physically killing a victim is rare for them unless the need arises (such as stealing someone’s voice).

In the episode “The Angels Take Manhattan”, another form of Weeping Angel is shown, the cherubim. Unlike the Weeping Angels they are not silent, making a childlike giggling and having audible footsteps. It is not explicitly stated that they are young Angels, but they are referred to as “the babies”. The Weeping Angels appeared again in the ‘The Time of the Doctor’ special episode broadcast on December 25, 2013.

In a poll conducted by BBC, taking votes from 2,000 readers of the Doctor Who Adventures magazine, the Weeping Angels were voted the scariest monsters of 2007 with 55% of the vote; the Master and the Daleks took second and third place with 15% and 4% of the vote. The Daleks usually come out on top in such polls. Moray Laing, Editor of Doctor Who Adventures, praised the concept of escaping a monster by not blinking, something both simple and difficult to do. In a 2012 poll of over ten thousand respondents conducted by the Radio Times, the Weeping Angels were again voted the best Doctor Who monster with 49.4% of the vote. The Daleks came in second place with 17%.

The Weeping Angels came in at number three in Neil Gaiman‘s “Top Ten New Classic Monsters” in Entertainment Weekly. They were also rated the third “baddie” in Doctor Who by The Telegraph, behind the Nestene Consciousness and Daleks. The Angels were listed as the third scariest television characters by TV Squad. In 2009, SFX named the climax of “Blink” with the Weeping Angels advancing on Sally and Larry the scariest moment in Doctor Who‘s history. They also listed the Angels in their list of favourite things of the revival of Doctor Who, writing, “Scariest. Monsters. Ever.”

Wikipedia | Related: Sea Devils | Silurians | The Vampires of Venice | Zygons

The Usborne Guide to the Supernatural World was first published in 1979 and comprised of three smaller, separately published books by Usborne, all under the ‘Supernatural Guides’ banner; Haunted Houses, Ghosts and Spectres; Mysterious Powers and Strange Forces; Vampires, Werewolves and Demons. They were written and edited by Eric Maple, Lynn Myring and Eliot Humberstone.

The books were ostensibly aimed at the younger market but were packed full of odd facts and stories from around the world, many of which certainly play to a wider audience. The books began with an overview of the subjects they covered and then proceeded to travel not only through time but also around the world, demonstrating the beliefs and superstitions of different cultures throughout the ages.

Whilst the books on ghosts and mysterious powers were very interesting and packed with information on the likes of hauntings at Borley Rectory (‘the most haunted house in England’) and ESP, it was the book on vampires, werewolves and demons which really held a huge allure for kids hungry for horrific facts.

The books were profusely illustrated, rarely with copies of existing works but completely unique, often rather stunning imagery. With such a broad canvas, the third book did not disappoint with sometimes rather alarming pictures of ghouls and beasts from exotic climes. To their credit, the authors backed these up with information which was both easy to understand and factually based, such as the bizarre adventures of Marco Polo or the 17th Century wolf-boy, Jean Grenier.

Although they were republished in the 1990’s with different (ie worse) covers, though identical text, the books are now out of print but are essential additions to any library of horror and the unknown.

Daz Lawrence

Undead Pool aka Attack Girls’ Swim Team vs. The Undead (original title: Joshikyôei hanrangun) is a 2007 Japanese erotic comedy horror film directed by Kôji Kawano from a screenplay by Satoshi Owada (Cruel Restaurant). It stars Sasa Handa, Yuria Hidaka, Ayumu Tokitô, Mizuka Arai, Hiromitsu Kiba, Hidetomo Nishida, Sakae Yamazaki, Tôshi Yanagi and Kiyo Yoshizawa.

Plot teaser:

A laboratory mix-up means that a vaccine is accidentally swapped with a virus causing a high school full of students and teachers to turn into flesh-eating zombies. But all is not lost: New student Aki discovers that the swim team is immune to the plague. With the school rampaged by ravenous monsters, the girls engage in an over-the-top orgy of gory violence to save the day…

Aki, brainwashed and trained (in that order) to become an assassin, is transferred to an all-girl school, just as a virus that turns the young ladies into entrail-twirling zombies has been making the rounds. Everyone – teachers included – are made into gleeful zombies, tearing into necks, chopping off limbs, and decapitating students with metal rulers. Everyone, that is, except the swim team. Turns out the school pool’s chlorine makes them immune to the zomb-virus.

Review:

The cartoonish gore is straight grindhouse stuff and is amusingly entertaining. One female teacher uses stringy guts pulled out of a chainsawed stomach to accessorize her fresh-stained wardrobe. The evil scientist turns out to be doubly so, and faces off with Aki in the end, who’s not too happy about that whole “brainwashing through rape” Japanese technique. Aki, without any clothes worth mentioning, has a secret retribution weapon up her, uh, sleeve.

Just so you know, this fine film is in Japanese and the version available does not have sub-titles. As if that’s gonna stop you watching it.

Jeff Gilbert, guest reviewer from Drinkin’ & Drive-In

Buy Nihombie! triple-film DVD pack from Amazon.com

Buy Attack Girls’ Swim Team vs. The Undead on DVD from Amazon.com

Wikipedia | IMDb

Gossamer is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character is a hairy, red monster. His rectangular body is perched on two giant tennis shoes, and his heart-shaped face is composed of only two oval eyes and a wide mouth, with two hulking arms ending in dirty, clawed fingers. The monster’s main trait, however, is bright uncombed red hair. In fact, a gag in the 1980 short Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century lampoons this by revealing that Gossamer is, in fact, composed entirely of hair. He was originally voiced by Mel Blanc and has been voiced by Joe Alaskey, Jim Cummings, and Dee Bradley Baker.

The word “gossamer” means any sort of thin, fragile, transparent material — in particular, it can refer to a kind of delicate, sheer gauze or a light cobweb. The name is meant to be ironic, since the character is large, menacing, and destructive.

Animator Chuck Jones introduced the monster character in the 1946 cartoon Hair-Raising Hare. In it, Bugs Bunny is lured to the lair of a mad scientist as food for Gossamer. The monster (unnamed here) serves as the scientist’s henchman. Part of this plot was repeated in the 1952 Jones cartoon Water, Water Every Hare, in which the monster’s character was referred to as “Rudolph”. The mad scientist in need of a live-brain for his giant robot, released Rudolph from his chamber for a mission to capture Bugs Bunny in order to obtain a living brain, to which Rudolph showed a sudden burst of joyousness and quickly set out when the mad scientist promised the reward of “spider goulash” for capturing the rabbit.

Gossamer has also appeared in a cameo role in a number of recent Warner Bros productions. He appeared in 1990s episodes of  Tiny Toon Adventures, including a prominent role in a Frankenstein parody segment in the Tiny Toons Night Ghoulery special. He appears briefly in the 1996 movie Space Jam (in a car before the big game and after Bugs gets crushed by one of the Monstars). Gossamer appeared in the Aaahh!!! Real Monsters episode “Monsters are Real” where he was shown as one of the best monsters to scare people and animals. He appears in the Videogame Looney Tunes Collector Alert as a boss in the Count’s Castle.

Most recently, Gossamer was one of the Warner Bros characters reinvented for the 21st century in the 2011 The Looney Tunes Show.

Wikipedia

Mosquitoid – original title: The Mosquito Alien – Nights of “Terror” – is a forthcoming Brazilian sci-fi horror film written and directed by André and Marcos de Castro.

The project is currently seeking further funding via IndieGoGo

Official plot synopsis:

The film tells the story of a giant mosquito from Planet Endfly, who finds a crack in a black hole in space and comes to Planet Earth. When he comes to Ribeirão Preto, a city that is experiencing an epidemic of the same mosquito, because of the excess of still water, he promotes chaos. His bite is deadly, it’s not like the normal mosquito. His giant stinger kills the person’s immediately, however, its venom takes effect. The dead turn into zombie-mosquitos and attack the city’s population. In the story there are several characters. The mosquito goes through numerous funny situations because of his personalities. Mad scientist, drag queen in the adaptation process, frenzy in sorority, clumsy soldier, sensual colonel, two crazy hippies, space warrior, among others. All this washed down with very black humour, blood and some sensuality…

Trailer (NSFW):

‘They’re urban, they’re vermin, and they exterminate you!’

Bugged – aka Bugged! – is a 1997 American science fiction comedy horror film co-produced, written and directed by Ronald K. Armstrong.

The film was released on VHS and DVD by Troma Entertainment and now crops up on Netflix.

Cast:

Priscilla K. Basque, Ronald K. Armstrong, Jeff Lee, Derek C. Johnson, Billy Graham, David McKay, John Kilgore, Jacqui Everett.

Plot teaser:

Devine Hill, an attractive young poetess (Priscilla K. Basque), calls out Dead and Buried Exterminators to rid her house of insects. Unfortunately, due to a horrible chemical mix-up, the poison spray causes the bugs to grow to enormous sizes, and pretty soon everyone is trapped inside the house and have to find a way to stop the dastardly pests before they start multiplying and take over the world…

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

Unlike most of the black horror ‘hood sub-genre movies, Ronald K. Armstrong’s bugsploitation pic is more subtle and at least mildly amusing. The insects, which seem to be giant crickets, are memorably weird: they seem to have human characteristics (at one point, a bug turns off a light switch!). Some common male stereotypes are mocked but the lack of budget means that a few muffed lines are left in. For the most part, Bugged is a passable trash film time-waster if you’re in a charitable mood but it’s not worth seeking out and the ending is unfortunately ineffectual.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“Bugged never takes itself seriously. Unlike most Troma products, some of the attempts at humor actually work, such as when the giant bug picks up Dave’s gun and shoots at him, or when the bugs throw a frozen chicken tied to a rope into the house to go “people fishing”. Still, the mere cheapitude of it all — including the bargain-basement acting — weakens the impact of even the best moments.” BlackHorrorMovies.com

Choice dialogue:

Steve: “If this woman has bugs this big running round this house, I’m gettin’ the fuck outta here.”

IMDb

‘Heads will rock & roll’

Deadtime is a 2012 British slasher horror film directed by Tony Jopia from a screenplay by Stephen Bishop.

The BBFC removed 12 seconds of “a scene of sexual and sexualised violence, in this case a blade being traced between a woman’s breasts and subsequent sight of a woman being stabbed between the legs with a blade. Cuts made in accordance with BBFC Guidelines and policy.”

Cast:

Laurence Saunders, Carl Coleman, Elisabeth Shahlavi, Alex Marieka Hanly, Leslie Grantham, Terry Christian, Joe Egan, Julian Boote, Stephen Spencer, Matt Gibbons, Louis Murrall, Elle Wood, Emily Welch, Adam Carrington, Ian Donnelly, Stephen Bishop, Ian Hill, John R. Walker.

Plot:

A Birmingham-based band are ordered by their unhappy record company to an old warehouse; the goal being to re-start their ailing careers with a kick-ass new promo video. Unfortunately the band and their entourage find themselves targets of a mysterious knife-wielding maniac, haunted by the voice of Satan, and out for revenge…

Buy uncut DVD from Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Deadtime is the rare instance where the cover is the extent of the movie’s creativity. The cover shows a guitar where the neck has been replaced with a disembodied/bloody arm (or perhaps just wrapped in the skin of one), which sells the movie’s concept quite nicely, but is wasted on a dull, cliché-ridden time-waster that seemingly went off a checklist of what NOT to do in a slasher movie.” Horror Movie a Day

“While the CGI looked silly in some scenes, a few of the deaths were actually really damn cool. My personal favorite was a stabbing to the back of the head and the end result looked slick. The dialogue was often dumb, some of the references they make if you can catch where they were from was sort of fun. I also have to mention that I am a fan of men and their girly screams, there is a possible classic one in Deadtime. The gore is never in abundance but there is just enough to satisfy (also just enough bare skin for the fellas to wet the appetite as well).” Corey Danna, HorrorNews.net

“When the killer is finally revealed the film still plods along for another torturous half an hour so we get to endure even more terrible performances and lame death sequences. The latter is particularly disappointing with Jopia favouring utterly unconvincing CGI over practical effects.” Adam Cook, Letterboxd

IMDb

The Usborne Guide to the Supernatural World was first published in 1979 and comprised of three smaller, separately published books by Usborne, all under the ‘Supernatural Guides’ banner; Haunted Houses, Ghosts and Spectres; Mysterious Powers and Strange Forces; Vampires, Werewolves and Demons. They were written and edited by Eric Maple, Lynn Myring and Eliot Humberstone.

The books were ostensibly aimed at the younger market but were packed full of odd facts and stories from around the world, many of which certainly play to a wider audience. The books began with an overview of the subjects they covered and then proceeded to travel not only through time but also around the world, demonstrating the beliefs and superstitions of different cultures throughout the ages.

Whilst the books on ghosts and mysterious powers were very interesting and packed with information on the likes of hauntings at Borley Rectory (‘the most haunted house in England’) and ESP, it was the book on vampires, werewolves and demons which really held a huge allure for kids hungry for horrific facts.

The books were profusely illustrated, rarely with copies of existing works but completely unique, often rather stunning imagery. With such a broad canvas, the third book did not disappoint with sometimes rather alarming pictures of ghouls and beasts from exotic climes. To their credit, the authors backed these up with information which was both easy to understand and factually based, such as the bizarre adventures of Marco Polo or the 17th Century wolf-boy, Jean Grenier.

Although they were republished in the 1990’s with different (ie worse) covers, though identical text, the books are now out of print but are essential additions to any library of horror and the unknown.

Daz Lawrence

Necronomicon is a 1993 American anthology horror film. It was directed by Brian Yuzna, Christophe Gans and Shusuke Kaneko from a screenplay by Brent V. Friedman, Christophe Gans, Kazunori Itō and Brian Yuzna.

The film is also known as H.P. Lovecraft’s: Necronomicon, Necronomicon: Book of the Dead and Necronomicon: To Hell and Back.

The three stories in the film are based on three H.P. Lovecraft short stories: The Drowned is loosely based on The Rats in the Walls, The Cold is based on Cool Air, and Whispers is based on The Whisperer in Darkness.

Main cast:

Bruce Payne, Richard Lynch, Jeffrey Combs, Belinda Bauer, David Warner.

The Library:

H.P. Lovecraft (Jeffrey Combs) learns of a monastery where a copy of the Necronomicon is held. Requesting to read the Alchemical Encyclopedia Vol. III, Lovecraft steals a key from another monk and flees to the cellar where the Necronomicon is being held…

The Drowned:

Edward De LaPoer, a member of the De La Poer family, is tracked down in Sweden after inheriting an old, abandoned family hotel. He learns of his uncle’s tragic death. Upon a boat trip return to New England, a crash on the shore killed Jethro’s wife and son. That night, an odd fish-man creature arrives and leaves behind an English translation of the Necronomicon. Using the book, Jethro brings his family back to life. However, they are revived as unholy monsters with green glowing eyes and tentacles in their mouths…

The Cold:

Reporter Dale Porkel is suspicious of a string of strange murders in Boston over the past several decades. Confronting a woman at a local apartment building, he is invited in only to find the entire place is very cold. The woman he has confronted claims to suffer a rare skin condition which has left her sensitive to heat and light. Demanding the truth, Dale is told the story of Emily Osterman’s arrival to Boston twenty years before…

Whispers:

During a pursuit of a suspect known as “the Butcher”, two police officers, Paul and Sarah, argue over their failed relationship and the coming baby. The argument leads to a crash, flipping the cruiser upside down. Paul, having unbuckled his seatbelt in the argument, is knocked out and dragged off by an unseen person. Sarah unbuckles herself, breaks the window and exits the vehicle. Unable to call for backup, she follows a blood trail alone…

Reviews:

“… there are certainly a few Lovecraft adaptations that kick some rather serious ass; I would not call Necronomicon one of them. My feelings about Necronomicon overall are a bit lukewarm, but it is not a bad way to spend 90-ish minutes. Lightly recommended.” Goregirl’s Dungeon

“Overall, the film is kind of a failure. It doesn’t really work as a film, nor as an introduction to HPL.  From the slapstick sadism of Yuzna to the po-faced dullness of Kaneko, it pretty much loses its way before it even starts.  The only good segment is Gans’ and that is down to being more mythos-centric.  The only thing that isn’t Lovecraftian about ‘The Drowned’ is that the protagonist isn’t rendered gibberingly insane by the end.” Fangirl Magazine

“Unfortunately, [Necronomicon] does not deliver on what should have been a great idea. In fact the film loses focus, speed, and atmosphere after the first segment,”The Drowned,” almost as though the production had run out of money and time.” Andrew Migliore and John Strysik, Lurker in the Lobby: A Guide to the Cinema of H. P. Lovecraft

Cast and characters:

• Jeffrey Combs as H. P. Lovecraft
• Tony Azito as Librarian
• Brian Yuzna as Cabbie
• Bruce Payne as Edward De Lapoer
• Belinda Bauer as Nancy Gallmore
• Richard Lynch as Jethro De Lapoer
• Maria Ford as Clara
• Peter Jasienski as Jethro’s son
• Denice D. Lewis as Emma De Lapoer
• Vladimir Kulich as a villager
• David Warner as Dr. Madden
• Bess Meyer as Emily Osterman
• Millie Perkins as Lena
• Dennis Christopher as Dale Porkel
• Gary Graham as Sam
• Curt Lowens as Mr. Hawkins
• Signy Coleman as Sarah
• Obba Babatundé as Paul
• Don Calfa as Mr. Benedict
• Judith Drake as Mrs. Benedict

Choice dialogue:

Nancy Gallmore (Belinda Bauer): “It’s too bad crabs can’t talk.”

IMDb

In the Shadows is a 1977 rock song by British band The Stranglers, produced by Martin Rushent. The distinctive darkly-themed tongue-in-cheek song features a doctored deep “barracuda bass” guitar line and bleepy synth accompaniment, and first appeared as the ‘B’ side to the September 1977 single No More Heroes.

The track proved popular enough to be subsequently included on their May 1978 album Black and White. And in 1979, the song was included on as a live track on the band’s Don’t Bring Harry EP.

Lyrics:

The Corpse aka The Velvet House is a 1969 British horror film directed by Viktors Ritelis from a screenplay by Olaf Pooley (The Godsend; Lifeforce) for London-Cannon Films. In the US, it was released in 1971 by May Films as Crucible of Horror. Not to be confused with Crucible of Terror (1971).

The Corpse was unreleased in the UK until 1972 as a support feature to US import Psycho Killer by Grand National Pictures.

The film was featured in Season 2 Episode 13 of the late night TV show Elvira’s Movie Macabre.

“For most of its running time, it’s a nice little gothic thriller that’s a bit slow in the uptake and prone to abandon plot threats almost as soon as they are introduced, but it’s a fairly solid film until the final 10-15 minutes. Then it all goes to crap.” Terror Titans

” … this slow-moving shocker boasts adequate performances and solid production values, as well as imaginative cinematography, but the piece is undercut by a muddled storyline.” Every ’70s Movie

” … nicely atmospheric in portraying the English suburbs and countryside, although for most of the film one gets the impression that one is watching a suspense thriller rather than a horror film. Gough provides the standout performance as the father. Especially chilling (and funny, in an extremely dark sense) is his serenity before and after his savage beatings.” Thomas M. Simpos, Communist Vampires

“While the script was nothing to write home about, the performances from Gough, Sharon Gurney, and Yvonne Mitchell are all strong, and the director shows some imagination in the handling of the subject, with good use of unusual angles.” Andy Boot, Fragments of Fear: An Illustrated History of British Horror Films

Cast and characters:

• Michael Gough as Walter Eastwood
• Yvonne Mitchell as Edith Eastwood
• Sharon Gurney as Jane Eastwood
• Simon Gough as Rupert Eastwood
• David Butler as Gregson
• Olaf Pooley as Reid
• Nicholas Jones as Benjy Smith
• Mary Hignett as Servant
• Howard Goorney as Petrol Pump Attendant

Choice dialogue:

Walter Eastwood [Michael Gough]: Who touched my guns?

Filming Locations:

Merton Park Studios, London

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Mummy is a 2017 American action adventure horror film co-produced and directed by Alex Kurtzman (Cowboys & Aliens; Sleepy Hollow; Venom) from a screenplay written by Jon Spaihts for Universal Pictures. The film is co-produced by Chris Morgan and Sean Daniel.

The cast announced so far includes Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella (above) as the titular mummy.

The film, which was originally slated for March 24, 2017, will be released on June 9, 2017, pitting it against World War z 2 at the box office.

The Mummy is the first of their Universal classic monsters to be rebooted with rumours that Bride of Frankenstein will star Angelina Jolie. The classic monsters are expected to appear in each other’s movies before culminating in an Avengers-style all-star film.

IMDb | Source: Variety

Related: The Shuffling Saga of the Mummy on Screen – article by Daz Lawrence | The Mummy on Horrorpedia

Cabin Fever is a 2016 American horror film and a remake of the 2002 movie of the same name. It is directed by Travis Zariwny (Intruder) from a screenplay by Randy Pearlstein.

The co-writer and director of the original, Eli Roth (Hostel; The Green Inferno; Knock Knock), is executive producing alongside Evan Astrowsky, Christopher Lemole, and Tim Zajaros.

The film is released on VOD by IFC Midnight on February 12th, with a limited theatrical run.

Cast:

Gage Golightly (Teen Wolf; Exeter), Matthew Daddario, Samuel Davis (From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series), Dustin Ingram (Paranormal Activity 3), and Nadine Crocker (Deadgirl).

Plot:

A flesh-eating virus makes a meal of five teens on spring break in a remote wood cabin…

Trailer:

IMDb

Strait-Jacket is a 1963 (released January 19, 1964) U.S. horror thriller starring Joan Crawford (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?) and Diane Baker in a macabre mother and daughter tale about a series of axe-murders. Horror regular George Kennedy (Death Ship, Just Before Dawn, Uninvited) also makes an appearance as a sneering farmhand. Released by Columbia Pictures, the film was directed and co-produced by William Castle. The screenplay was the first of two written for Castle by Robert Bloch, the second being The Night Walker (1964). Strait-Jacket marks the first big-screen appearance of Lee Majors (Killerfish) in the uncredited role of Crawford’s husband.

After the success of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), Joan Crawford and other older actresses, including Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck, made numerous horror movies throughout the 1960s. Strait-Jacket is one of the more notable examples of the genre sometimes referred to as psycho-biddy or Grande Dame Guignol. During the film’s original release, moviegoers were given little cardboard axes as they entered the cinema. Crawford replaced Joan Blondell in the role of Lucy Harbin after Blondell was injured at home prior to shooting and could not fulfill her commitment. Crawford’s negotiations included script and cast approval, a $50,000 salary, and 15 percent of the profits, plus plugs for Pepsi.

Plot teaser:

Lucy Harbin has spent twenty years in an asylum where it was “pure hell” for the decapitation axe-murder of her husband (Lee Majors) and his mistress, after catching him cheating on her. After she is released, she takes up residence at the farm of her brother Bill Cutler and sister-in-law Emily.

Lucy’s adult daughter Carol, an artist and “sculptress”, also lives on the Cutler farm and is seemingly unaffected by the grisly murders she witnessed many years in the past as a three year-old child. Carol encourages her mother to dress and act the way she did in the past. Lucy begins playing the vamp and makes passes at her daughter’s fiance Michael Fields. She then shocks his parents with a sudden tantrum when they consider their son’s marriage to Carol out of the question.

A series of brutal axe-murders begin with Lucy’s doctor, who is found in the freezer, and the shady hired man Leo. All signs point to Lucy as the murderer and some believe she is still insane, and should be returned to the hospital…

Reviews:

‘Strait-Jacket‘s strength is its soundtrack. It is very Leave It To Beaver–ish, until there’s some suspenseful part or an ax murder, where some weird quasi sci-fi thing takes over. Very creepy. Crawford delivers a great performance amidst amateurs and Pepsi C.E.O.s, but the movie isn’t anywhere near as good as it could have been. Even though it was written by the author of Psycho, Strait-Jacket, like many of Castle’s movies, finds itself firmly in Alfred Hitchcock’s shadow.’ Fear of a Ghost Planet

‘Strait-Jacket shows that Joan can pretty well hold her own. See 59-year-old Joan play a 29-year-old in flashbacks. See prominently displayed product placement for Pepsi, since Joan was married to the president (and see one of the Pepsi VPs as the doctor in a particularly painfully-acted role). See Joan get wasted and come on to her daughter’s boyfriend by interminably fingering his mouth. See Joan wear a wig, scary makeup, and Gypsy-esque jewelry in an attempt to recapture her glory days. This is about as good as it gets, ladies and gentlemen.’ Junta Juleil, Culture Shock

Buy Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story on DVD | Instant Video from Amazon.com

Wikipedia | IMDb

Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles is an American Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1966. It premiered September 10, 1966 on CBS, and ran for two seasons.

Overview

The program contained two segments, which each served as a middle ground between Hanna-Barbera’s traditional cartoon early output and its superhero-based late-1960s cartoons.

• Frankenstein, Jr.: Taking place in Civic City, boy scientist Buzz Conroy (voiced by Dick Beals) and his father Professor Conroy (voiced by John Stephenson) fight supervillains with the aid of a powerful heroic robot named “Frankenstein Jr.” (voiced by Ted Cassidy). “Frankie”, as Buzz usually referred to him, was more than a little reminiscent of the title character in Gigantor. Buzz built “Frankie” and activated him through an energy ring.
• The Impossibles: The title characters are a trio of superheroes (Multi Man, Fluid Man, and Coil Man) who pose undercover as a Beatlesesque rock music band. The characters’ names are descriptive of their powers: Multi-Man (voiced by Don Messick) can create identical copies of himself; Coil-Man (voiced by Hal Smith) can form into a super-springy coil; and Fluid-Man (voiced by Paul Frees) can transform his body into any fluid. The heroes receive assignments from “Big D” (also voiced by Frees), who contacts them via a receiver in the base of Coil-Man’s left-handed guitar. During the development of the show, this group was called “The Incredibles,” but was changed to “The Impossibles” by the time of production. The team’s pre-production name was later given to the superhero family from the Disney/Pixar movie of the same name.

The show was the target of complaints about violence in children’s television, and was canceled in 1968. The Frankenstein, Jr. segments were later recycled in the 1976 series Space Ghost and Frankenstein, Jr., which aired on NBC from November 27, 1976 until September 3, 1977, replacing the canceled Big John, Little John.

Adaptations

A single issue of a “Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles” comic was released by Gold Key Comics in 1966 as a tie-in to the TV series, and the contents were reprinted in “The Impossibles Annual” byAtlas Publishing & Distributing Co. Ltd, UK in 1968. The two “Frankenstein Jr.” comic stories were titled “The Image Invasion” and “Frankenstein Jr. Meets the Flea Man”. A new text-based story, specially written for the annual, was “A Spook in his Wheel”. The character reappeared in the comic Hanna-Barbera Presents #8 published by Archie Comics in 1996.

A Big Little Book titled Frankenstein, Jr.: The Menace of the Heartless Monster was published in 1968.

• Nate Branch’s heroic identity was alternately known as “Fluid Man” or “Liquid Man”, with powers (and a flippered costume) similar to the Impossibles’ Fluid-Man.
• “Twiggy” Sanders became “Spaghetti Man”, with coiling and stretching abilities similar to Coil-Man.
• “Geese” Ausbie as “Multi Man” had virtually identical powers as his Impossibles counterpart and a similar costume.

Wikipedia

‘A crash course in terror’

Fender Bender is a 2016 American horror thriller film written and directed by Mark Pavia (The Night Flier). The first Scream Factory original production, the film will premiere on Chiller TV on June 3, 2016. 

Main cast:

Makenzie Vega, Bill Sage, Cassidy Freeman, Kelsey Leos Montoya, Dre Davis, Steven Michael Quezada, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Gus Krieger,Harrison Sim

Plot:

In a small New Mexico town, a 17-year-old high school girl who just got her driver”s license gets into her first fender bender, innocently exchanging her personal information with an apologetic stranger.

Later that stormy night, she is joined in her desolate suburban home by a couple of her school friends, who try their best to make a night out of it, only to be visited by the stranger she so willingly handed all of her information to — a terrifying and bizarre serial killer who stalks the country”s endless miles of roads and streets with his old rusty car, hungrily searching for his next unsuspecting victim…

Trailer teaser:

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‘The game will possess you’

The Ouija Exorcism is a 2015 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Nick Slatkin (Placebo).

A British DVD release is scheduled for 26 September 2016 by Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment.

Main cast:

J. Damian Anastasio, Brittney Bertier, Cameron Bigelow, Jay Brothers, Tony Harutyunyan, Lola Kelly, Laura Kirchner, Walker Mintz, Ben Morrison, Lynne Newton, Michael Palladino, Julia Rae and Branden Smith.

Plot:

In 1985, a celebrated exorcist trapped a horrific demon inside a ouija board. Thinking the board to be a game, his son played without obeying the rules, and let the demon loose. In order to save his son, the exorcist sent him far away until the demon could be destroyed.

Thirty years later, and after his death, his grandson finds the board and makes the same mistake his father did. Now the evil is back and roaming the earth to terrorise those responsible for its imprisonment…

Filming locations:

Los Angeles, Glendale and Simi Valley, California, USA

IMDb