My Review of The Raven (1963)

 

Written by Richard Matheson 

Directed by Roger Corman

Dr. Craven (to Dr. Bedlo): "Shut your beak! Quoth the raven, nevermore."

Last week, I had a look at the Vincent Price and Roger Corman team up of The Pit And The Pendulum and while I'm not reviewing their collaboration of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations in order, I will try to get through them all as best I can.

Vincent Price in this adaptation took on the role of magician Dr. Erasmus Craven. He's got a daughter named Estelle (Olive Sturgess) and he's mourning the loss of his second wife, Lenore (Hazel Court). Estelle on the other hand wasn't particularly sad that her stepmother wasn't around anymore.

There's also the titular Raven itself. Actually it's a peer named Dr. Adolphus Bedlo (Peter Lorre) and the raven made his presence known to Craven until the latter changed him back into a human. We also got to meet Bedlo's son, Rexford (Jack Nicholson) who seemed taken with Estelle but also had his moment of madness.

Because this movie needed a villain, who better than to get Boris Karloff as the fanatical Dr. Scarabus. Oh and Lenore wasn't dead at all. She just faked her death so she could help to contrive to get Craven into Scarabus's hands and just so the latter could take his powers.

That was Scarabus's big plan. He wanted Erasmus's powers and both Lenore and Bedlo came in handy. There's an impressive magical duel between the two of them and even a poor attempt from Lenore to switch sides when Scarabus was losing.

There's also a rather satisfying comeuppance for Bedlo. He overplayed his hand and ended up as a mute raven as punishment for his misdeeds. That was certainly a way to have Erasmus put a spin on some very popular lines from the infamous story.

- Peter Lorre did ad-lib a lot for this movie and there was tension between him and Jack Nicholson.

- Boris Karloff was in the 1935 version of this movie but that had a different story.

- Boris Karloff wasn't a fan of the cape he had to wear or the scenes where him and Vincent Price were in the air.

- Chronology: It's 1506 in a dreary December.

The Raven (1963) had some strong performances from Price, Lorre and Karloff. It's a good take on the popular Edgar Allen Poe story. It's probably one of the best takes if I'm being honest.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Octopussy (1983)

 

Written by George MacDonald Fraser And Richard Maibaum And Michael G. Wilson

Directed by John Glen

Vijay: "Is he still there?"

Q: "You must be joking! 007 on an island populated exclusively by women? We won't see him till dawn!"

This film might have the funniest/rudest title for a James Bond movie. It's titular character as played by Maud Adams certainly wasn't short changed in this film either. She's a bit more than a love interest for Roger Moore's spy. 

She's a jewel smuggler and a wealthy businesswoman to boot and maybe the closest to an equal that Moore's version of Bond might have in this movie. There's good chemistry between the two of them as their dynamic was both antagonistic and flirtatious in equation. Even the ending somewhat subverted the usual ending for a Bond film.

Octopussy also ran an Octopus cult (no, seriously she did) and was working with the actual villain of the piece - Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan). Khan was an exiled Afghan prince and he wasn't best pleased with James's refusal to die. Get in line, Khan.

As a villain, he's mostly interesting enough and had no problem getting Magda (Kristina Wayborn) to seduce Bond. Magda's not as interesting a character as Octopussy. She's more of a generic character in the mix of more interesting ones.

Throw in an alliance with Khan and rogue Soviet General Orlov (Steven Berkoff) and there's a plot to destabilise NATO for both James and Octopussy to stop them. There's a bit with a Fabergé egg, an ally in Vijay (Vijay Amritraj) and James avenging the death of 009 (Andy Bradford) and there's plenty going on here.

- Maud Adams previously played Andrea Anderson in The Man With The Golden Gun. She's better served here.

- This was the final role for Paul Hardwick who played a Soviet chairman. Robert Brown is now playing M.

- Standout music: Rita Coolidge's All Time High.

- Chronology: East Berlin, Udaipur and both East and West Germany.

Octopussy was a better movie than expected and they certainly had fun with that title choice. A good dynamic between Roger Moore and Maud Adams certainly helped things.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Carrie - Season 1 (Amazon Prime Series, 2026)

 

Written by Mike Flanagan And Elizabeth Padden And Justina Ireland And Dani Parker And Elan Gale And Alexandra Magistro And Rebecca Klingel And Jamie Flanagan

Directed by Mike Flanagan And Kate Siegel And Axelle Carolyn And Kyra Sedgwick And Hiromi Katama 

Carrie: "All I ever wanted was to go to school."

Am I terrible Stephen King fan for saying that I wasn't chomping at the bit for another adaptation of this particular book? Am I a terrible Mike Flanagan fan for wanting him to do something original instead? I don't think I am tbh. This book has been adapted enough times and Flanagan definitely needs to do something original.

Putting those things to one side, I'm fortunately relieved to say that this eight part series for Amazon Prime was mostly a success. This was a Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) for the 2020s and it's a modern take that managed to mostly work for the titular character and the people drawn inyo her world.

The lynchpin of any adaptation would be the relationship between Carrie and her fanatical mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan). Again, it mostly worked because Margaret's extremities in regards to her daughter are still here but softened/modernised for a current audience. This Margaret will use social media to tackle Carrie's bullies and mobilise support but this was also a Margaret who cannot handle Carrie questioning the world around and showed genuine fear of her daughter's abilities.

The interesting but questionable change was Margaret having latent powers of her own. It's touched upon briefly in flashbacks and presented itself during a crucial moment in the finale. It also put Margaret in the firing line of a mystery cult led by the equally mysterious Adelaide (Kate Siegel). I'm not happy with how Margaret's story concluded in this take of the source material.

Having a cult of people with similar abilities to Carrie felt like an obvious way to prolong this story and push it to getting a potential second season. There's a lot of focus on a character named Emaline (Thalia Dudek), who befriended Carrie, had similar abilities to Carrie and also took away some of Carrie's agency during the very moment that should've been Carrie's and Carrie's alone.

Yes, I'm talking about the prom. I didn't like Emaline's involvement in that crucial moment, though it didn't negate the fact that Carrie still was mostly responsible for the destruction at hand. It's an okay depiction but most of the movies handled the prom scenes better. This show fleshed certain characters out better than any movie.

In particular, this show just gave audiences the best version of superbitch Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton). An absolutely layered but utterly hateful version of the high school bully. There's a moment where it looked like Chris and Carrie could've been friends and it's cruelly decimated. Chris's family life with two separated parents - John (Michael Trucco) and Madison (Heather Graham), the latter's new boyfriend, Kent Kirby (Gil Bellows) and his daughter, Brooklyn (Rowan Danielle) was dysfunctional along with her relationship with bad boy, Billy Nolan (Arthur Conti). Outside of Carrie and Margaret, Chris was the most fleshed out character here.

Less fleshed out were the likes of Sue Snell (Siena Agudong), Tommy Ross (Joel Oulette) and Tina Blake (Josie Totah) but they do get a few interesting bits. The actual high school staff were a mixed bag of ineffective, incompetent and genuinely helpful. With characters like Principal Henry Grayle (Matthew Lillard), Rita Desjardin (Amber Midthunder), Seth Piest (Rahul Kohli) and Peter Morton (Tim Bagley), it's not hard to see why Carrie would eventually be tipped over the edge.

- The episode titles are First Period, Foreign Language, Social Studies, Dramatic Arts, Physical Education, Home Economics, Romantic Literature and AP Physics.

- Other noteworthy people to appear in the show included Katee Sackhoff, Tahmoh Penikett, Ruth Codd, Delainey Hayles as well as Bryan Fuller and Don Mancini.

- CarrieRed might have been set up to make fun of Carrie but it also exposed Seth Piest having sexual relationships with students, leading to his death in the sixth episode.

- I did like how the credit scenes kept getting redder with each episode.

- Standout music: The Newton Brothers provided the score for the show.

- Chronology: Mostly set in Thomas Ewen Consolidated High School, Maine. 

I had my reservations about this version of Carrie and I can't say that I loved everything that Mike Flanagan did with the material but I liked it a lot than I expected to and that's a relief. There's some genuine standout performances from Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan and Alison Thornton but no one puts a foot wrong.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Carry On Screaming! (1966)

 

Written by Talbot Rothwell

Directed by Gerald Thomas

Orlando: "What time is it?"

Valeria: "Just past December."

Orlando: "I told you not to wake me up 'til the beginning of March!"

I have a bit of a thing for the Carry On movies. They're a bit outdated but a guilty pleasure nonetheless. Seeing as it's spooky season, of course I had to watch this one.

The film started with a couple named Albert (Jim Dale) and Doris (Angela Douglas). They're in the woods about to get more acquainted and then Doris ended up getting snatched by a monster named Oddball (Tom Clegg). Doris wouldn't be the only one getting taken by this creature.

In fact there's a spate of disappearances and connected to them were the seductive Valeria (Fenella Fielding) and her mad scientist brother, Dr. Orlando Watt (Kenneth Williams). Oh and their servant, Sockett (Bernard Bresslaw) had no problem aiding the demented siblings.

The siblings were kidnapping young women and turning them into mannequins. Of course, they also had to contend with the likes of Detective Constable Slobotham (Peter Butterworth) and more specifically, Detective Sergeant Sidney Bung (Harry H. Corbett).

The latter in particular was a henpecked husband to Emily (Joan Sims) and was easily led and seduced by Valeria. I'd argue almost too easily seduced, which did lead to Bung being temporarily turned into a hairy monster. It didn't last that long as the movie progressed. 

There's a good team between Bung and Albert in order to try and save their respective loves from being mannequins forever. One was more successful than the other, Orlando embraced his villainy before his comeuppance and Valeria herself had a change of living arrangements that I'm sure she'd take some getting used to.

- Sidney James had played Detective Bung in previous movies but the role was recast here as he wasn't available.

- Jon Pertwee had the role of Dr. Fettle in this film. 

- Gerald Thomas had a voice cameo in this film as Oddball Junior.

- Orlando and Valeria were originally meant to be father and daughter instead of brother and sister.

- Standout music: Ray Pilgrim performed the theme tune, Carry On Screaming.

- Chronology: Set in Edwardian era, in Hocombe Woods.

Carry On Screaming! is pretty much what you'd expect a horror themed adventure would be from this particular comedy series. It's enjoyable enough with the expected innuendos and some good special effects and prosthetics for some of the monstrous looks on display.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Pit And The Pendulum (1961)

 

Written by Richard Matheson 

Directed by Roger Corman

Don Nicholas Medina: "I will tell you where you are. You are about to enter hell, Bartholomew. Hell! The Netherworld. The infernal region. The abode of the damned. The place of torment. Pandemonium. "Abbadon, "Tophet", "Gehenna". "Naraka", the pit! And the pendulum."

I fancied a bit of Edgar Allen Poe and one of the best adaptations of his work was this underrated film from 1961 starring the iconic Vincent Price.

In this film, Price took on the role of Nicholas Medina, who lived in a nice castle but was also grieving the loss of his wife, Elizabeth (Barbara Steel). Elizabeth died of fright but her Englishman brother, Francis Barnard (John Kerr) had doubts.

From the moment he appeared on screen, Francis served as a foil to Nicholas. He didn't believe the circumstances behind his sister's death and wasn't convinced when Doctor Leon (Antony Carbone) tried to convince him otherwise.

On top of that, it also seemed like Nicholas had a traumatic past involving his father, Sebastian (Vincent Price). In the present day, Nicholas also appeared to be losing his sanity, something that wasn't helped by the fact that Elizabeth was alive and in cahoots with Doctor Leone.

Elizabeth and Leone being lovers with a long game plot to see Nicholas's fortune went completely wrong with Nicholas thinking he was his father and mistaking Elizabeth and Leone for his mother and uncle. Then Francis got to experience the actual title of the film itself.

He got trapped in a pit with a pendulum coming close to slicing him in half had Nicholas's sister, Catherine (Luana Anders) and servant Maximilian (Patrick Westwood). The ending for Nicholas was tragic but Elizabeth's final fate was so much worse.

- The success of this film would have Roger Corman direct several Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, including The Raven (1963).

- The following Poe quote "...the agony of my soul found vent in one loud, long, and final scream of despair."  That was a part of the credits for the film.

- For TV rights, an opening scene with Catherine Medina was filmed where she was committed to an asylum and retold the events.

- Chronology: 1547 Spain with flashbacks to Nicholas's childhood.

The Pit And The Pendulum (1961) would definitely be one of the best adaptations of an Edgar Allen Poe story to date. It's beautifully shot, the performances are on point and that ending was such a grim way to conclude it.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of American Horror Story: 13 - Hell No

 

Written by Ned Martel And Charlie Carver 

Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey 

Cordelia (to Fiona/Marie/Papa Legba): "United we will defeat the Devil himself."

With only five episodes left to go, you'd think so, wouldn't you? Then again, it's the Devil and no matter how Avengers this season will get, there needs to be some major casualties. Cordelia going on about so much death should have some actual weight to it.

I liked how this episode started with Fiona and Cordelia actually bonding with each other. Being in Hell really seems to have given Fiona much to think about in regards to her past actions. For now, it does seem like she genuinely wants to help save the Coven against the Devil.

I'm glad this episode wasted no time in having the Coven realise they're up against the Devil and that Cordelia took the steps to fight fire with fire. Cordelia's trip to Hell and her scenes with Papa Legba (Orlando Jones) was brilliant. They both gave it their all but Cordelia had her trump card against Legba.

Papa wasn't pleased about Fiona being plucked out of Hell and less pleased when she stood up to him as well. In fact, he was outright furious with Cordelia and Fiona but also afraid of pissing off Satan himself. Saying that, it didn't stop him from suggesting Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett) being added into the mix, but only if someone volunteered to go to Hell.

This was where Queenie stepped back into the horrors of fast food service and who did she have to deal with? Yup, Madame Delphine Lalaurie (Kathy Bates) herself and while the latter's nastier racism was dialled down, Delphine was still a bit of a Karen in Hell. Queenie's method of dealing with Lalaurie was delightfully satisfying to watch. These last two episodes have been excellent for Queenie in general.

Now, where the episode lost some points for me was Fiona and Marie's banter. Marie in particular was almost too hostile to Fiona and Cordelia and it felt like the writers wanted to write some bitchy one liners for a moment where it wasn't earned. It was a good thing that Papa Legba got them all to focus on the problem at hand.

- I can't get over Kathy Bates getting her name in the opening credits this season and this was the only scene she ended up shooting.

- I really didn't like Morwenna blaming Voodoo, even if I could see why she leapt to such a conclusion.

- Myrtle got a mention as Cordelia apparently bit her as a child. Myrtle should be back next week.

- Of course this season was going to recreate the "knotty pine" moment. Points to it having Fiona trapped in an actual maze I guess.

- Is Queenie really Cordelia's favourite? That's actually really nice. Zoe and Misty aren't getting mentioned, are they?

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Hell No certainly had it's moments and returns and callbacks galore. To be slightly controversial here, I do hope that the rest of the season doesn't have the Coven drown out the Apollyon story and that there's a good balance between both as they will inevitably intersect from next week onwards.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: 13 - The Baddest Witch Of Them All

Written by Ned Martel And Charlie Carver 

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon 

Fiona (to James): "In case you missed my point, I'm the baddest witch of them all and I don't need to dirty my hands with the likes of you."

For those who love the Coven side of things, this week's double bill certainly should've kept you well and truly fed. At the end of the previous episode, Cordelia Goode was absolutely dead. She remained that way for most of this episode to boot.

With Cordelia taken out, someone had to step up and take over things. Not the next Supreme but Madison certainly embraced a leadership role like it came naturally to her. She got Morwenna to work on Cordelia and then she paired off Queenie and Coco and Mallory with Ophelia.

Madison seemed to have some good instincts but it also didn't stop her from becoming Jeffrey Dahmer's first female victim. It's kind of funny that Madison died but also was revived a lot quicker than Cordelia. There was something oddly satisfying in how Queenie dealt with Dahmer, even in the midst of some very clunky dialogue.

Seeing the witches take on Zodiac and the Night Stalker had it's moments. Mallory in particular had a lot of rage towards Ramirez and used a certain trick of hers to give him his just desserts. Queenie's method for dealing with Zodiac also saw a use for Coco's power set as well.

Now, as good as Madison and company were with causing problems for the Cortez Devils, they weren't the reason those baddies were defeated. Nope, the much welcomed return of Fiona Goode (Jessica Lange) saw them all die quickly and horribly. Fiona got some good lines with James Patrick March before he was dispatched.

Leaving Fiona until the last five minutes was a smart move. She dominated the moment she stepped into the frame, made her presence well and truly felt and then she brought Cordelia back from the dead. Now, it's on to the mother/daughter reunion we've been waiting for this season.

- Even in the midst of a serious attack, both Madison and Fiona had time to smoke and even pass a cigarette to one another.

- I had to side eye the obvious reference to a certain Netflix show that Queenie didn't watch.

- Mallory telling Ophelia to keep the time travelling secret annoyed me. Mallory is gonna have to confess about that pretty soon.

- Coco's powers are so odd to me and even to watch them but the sugar spike her and Queenie subjected Zodiac to was executed well.

- Standout music: James Patrick March really does have lovely piano playing skills.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

The Baddest Witch Of Them All was the middle part of what should've been a trilogy. It presented a united Coven, the badass return of Fiona Goode and the demise of the Cortez Devils. It's not hard to see why this and the next one have been so well received.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Dracula (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Luc Benson

Vlad: "Do you think God will forgive us for loving each other so much?"

Elisabeta: "God is love. He understands. And if he doesn't - he can go to hell."

Did anyone want a French remake of Bram Stoker's Dracula? Well, even if you didn't, that's exactly what this movie more or less amounted to. 

It might sound like I'm complaining but I'm actually not. Well, not really. First of all, point to Caleb Landry Jones because he's one of the actors that I never would've considered for the role of Dracula but he's a very good choice here.

The movie started off with Vlad the Impaler. He's besotted with his lady love, Elisabeta (Zoë Bleu). He's off to fight the Ottoman Army and while that happened, Elisabeta tragically died and Vlad denounced his own religion and became Dracula.

Cut to the next four hundred years where Dracula was working over time to find a reincarnated version of his beloved. Of course that would happen upon eventually coming into contact with Mina Murray (Zoë Bleu). However, it's his interactions with Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid).

I love that Jonathan managed to avoid death by getting Dracula to talk about his love life. It certainly bought Jonathan enough time to escape as Dracula made the moves on Mina. Again, there's solid enough chemistry between the two of them.

Throw in some familiar characters but renamed - Dumont (Guillaume de Tonquédec), Maria (Matilda De Angelis), The Priest (Christoph Waltz) and Henry Spencer (David Shields) and you've got the usuals aiding or trying to stop Dracula. The conclusion isn't new but it's executed well.

- Those CGI gargoyles that were assisting Dracula looked rubbish but funny. 

- They really styled the aged up Dracula exactly like Gary Oldman's version.

- Standout music: Frederic Chopin's Nocturne No15 in F minor Op55 No1 DG.

- Chronology: 1480 AD Eastern Europe and 1889 Paris, France.

Dracula (2025) isn't the most innovative of takes of the infamous Count but it's engaging enough with a strong performance from Caleb Landry Jones and solid direction from Luc Besson.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Practical Magic 2 (2026)

 

Written by Akiva Goldsman And Georgia Pritchett And Kelly Marcel

Directed by Susanne Bier

Sally: "Here's the thing about magic. It won't be silenced."

This era of legacy sequels has now extended to 1990s movies that didn't do well in theatres but gained a cult following over time. While the Hocus Pocus sequel eschewed theatres and went straight to Disney+, Practical Magic 2 risked theatres with middling results.

Once again, we've got the Owens sisters - the extremely overcautious Sally (Sandra Bullock) and the fun loving Gillian (Nicole Kidman). Between movies, Sally lost her lover and stupidly decided to wipe her daughters - Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia's (Maisie Williams) memories of their powers. Needless to say, it was a decision that she would regret.

The birthday of Great Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) brought about the death of the dotty auntie and her funeral also had Kylie's lovely boyfriend Gideon (Xolo Mariduena) introduce himself to the rest of the family. Then Gideon ended up in a coma and both Antonia and other aunt Franny (Stockard Channing) would be confined to keeping him alive.

The rest of the movie had Kylie learn she was a witch, steal a left Book of Shadows and take a trip to England in order to save Gideon's life. This plot also put Kylie right in the hands of the movie's villain, Tom Lockland (Solly McLeod). Turned out he was an abandoned member of the Owens who needed Kylie to get his own power set.

Villain wise, Tom's generally okay. On the plus side, he isn't written as a straw misogynist but he's still rather underdeveloped as a baddie. It might have worked better had been part of a group of villains to pose a real threat to the Owens clan.

A slightly better new male character was Professor Ian Wright (Lee Pace). He's mostly helpful to both Sally and Gillian and there's a genuine spark between Ian and Sally that went exactly as expected. The whole movie ended on a note that seemed to imply none of the women no longer living in fear of a certain family curse.

- In the book, Antonia was a lesbian. That's not touched upon here. Franny also died towards the end of the film.

- Based on the 2021 book, The Book Of Magic.

- Standout music: Miriam Makeba's Pata Pata.

- Chronology: Supposedly 28 years since the first movie but that can't be right, considering that Kylie and Antonia are in their twenties. Also set in Massachusetts.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this but Practical Magic 2 turned out to be a rather pleasant sequel. Both Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman slipped into their roles and Joey King and Maisie Williams are good additions. The villain's underdeveloped though.

Rating: 7 out of 10