My Review of 3 From Hell (2019)

 

Written And Directed by Rob Zombie 

Otis: "Hello America. Did you miss me?"

The last two days I watched and reviewed the first two installments of Rob Zombie's Firefly trilogy and now I'm at the very end of said trilogy. It's certainly been a bumpy set of movies.

After the second film, there was an uncertainty towards the fates of Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie), Otis (Bill Moseley) and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig). It turned out that they got caught, gained public support but still ended up serving life sentences.

Because Rob Zombie clearly had a thing for those exploitation prison movies, there's some emphasis on Baby's prison time. Yup, she got to be subjected to a rough time, dealing with characters like Greta (Dee Wallace) and Slackjaw (Dot Marie Jones) before she's eventually freed.

Spaulding didn't fare as well as he was given lethal injection off screen while Winslow Foxworth "Foxy" Coltrane (Richard Brake) helped break both Otis (his half brother) and Baby out of the slammer. Foxy also replaced Spaulding in this depraved line up of main characters.

Anyways the trio ended up in Mexico and it's a place where they partied and even bond with some of the locals. Baby in particular had a nice connection with Sebastian (Pancho Moler) and this film managed to give us a character slightly worse than the Firefly clan.

Yup, Aquarius (Emilio Rivera) and his men wanted to take Baby, Otis and Foxy out and they very nearly succeeded. For a family as evil as the Firefly clan, it's almost a miracle that I was rooting for them against Aquarius. Of course they were victorious. I wasn't expecting otherwise.

- Sid Haig died before this movie's release, hence the addition of Foxy to the family.

- Danny Trejo appeared in the previous film and also appeared in this one.

- Standout music: Suzi Quatro's The Wild One.

- Chronology: Ten years since the events of the second film.

3 From Hell marked an okay ending to a generally okay trilogy of films surrounding a pretty nasty family. Probably not a trilogy I'll revisit but could've been worse.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Twice-Told Tales (1963)

Written by Robert E. Kent 

Directed by Sidney Salkow

Beatrice: "Your daughter is a fine specimen, too, isn't she father? A specimen of the most deadly thing that was ever given life."

My need to watch Vincent Price horror films this month has extended beyond Poe adaptations. I caught up with this gem last night,which saw him tackling three different roles.

The movie might called Twice -Told Tales but there's actually three of them, based on some rather infamous stories. In each of them, Price had something of an antagonistic role to play.

The first one was Dr. Heidegger's Experiment, in which Price was Alex Medborne. Both him and his friend, Dr. Carl Heidegger (Sebastian Cabot). They're celebrating the latter's 79th birthday and were playing around with water that had preservation properties. It was enough to make both men young.

It was also enough to resurrect Heidegger's fiancée, Sylvia (Mari Blanchard), who's been dead for 38 years. Throw in a very toxic love triangle between the three and this segment saw no one getting out alive as the water only temporarily restored people.

The second one was the best. A take on Rappaccini's Daughter, this one had Price as Giancomo, who kept his daughter, Beatrice (Joyce Taylor) prisoner in a poisonous garden. Beatrice herself too was poisonous but also in love with university student, Giovanni (Brett Halsey).

Giacomo was desperate to keep both Beatrice and Giovanni away from one another but then infected Giovanni in order for his daughter to have her lover. Again, none of the characters from this one made it out alive.

The last story, The House of the Seven Gables was the weakest of the bunch but still pretty decent. Price took on the role of Gerald Pyncheon. Both Gerald and his wife Alice (Beverly Garland) return to the former's family home and it's a home with it's own secrets and lies.

There's also a family curse, which involved Jonathan Maulle (Richard Denning), who was a descendant of the original curse maker. Throw in a rivalry between Gerald and his sister, Hannah (Jacqueline deWit), attempted murder and the collapse of a family home and it's a suitable ending for this anthology.

- There's a comic book version of this movie that you can enjoy.

- Vincent Price previously played Clifford Pyncheon in the 1940 version of The House Of The Seven Gables.

- I liked the skeleton hand used to turn the page on each story.

- Chronology: 1859 for the first story, Padua for the second story and the 19th century for the final story.

Twice-Told Tales told three different stories, all of which Vincent Price at the helm. They're good stories with the middle one being the best of the bunch.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of House Of Usher (1960)

 

Written by Richard Matheson 

Directed by Roger Corman 

Narration: "And the deep and dark tarn closed silently over the fragments of the House of Usher - Poe."

I did say that I wasn't going to review these Vincent Price/Roger Corman adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories in order, so I went back a few movies to review this one.

A couple of years, I really enjoyed the Netflix adaptation of this particular story and this version also turned out to be very enjoyable too. As usual, Vincent Price would turn in a fantastic performance.

In this adaptation, he's Roderick Usher and he comes from a cursed family bloodline. As a consequence of that, he's incredibly overprotective of his sister, Madeline (Myrna Fahey). This was something that didn't go down well with her betrothed, Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon).

In fact despite Roderick and even the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe) trying to warn Philip about the cursed bloodline and the madness, Philip wouldn't take any warning to mind. He was determined to bring Madeline back to America with him. Of course, fate had other ideas for her.

She suffered from catalepsy and was buried alive. She got out of her coffin and went absolutely mad and ended her own bloodline along with Bristol. It's a very brutal but suitable ending for this incredibly dysfunctional family.

Of course, it's more devastating for Philip. All he wanted was to be with Madeline and didn't get to have that. It's a very bittersweet ending but fitting in consideration to the source material.

- This was the first of these eight movies. I've got four more of these to go.

- The opening and ending credits had a nice smoky colour effect.

- The film also went by the title of The Fall Of The House Of Usher.

- Chronology: The Usher manor was in the worst place near a murky swamp.

House Of Usher is a glorious adaptation of the source material. Note perfect performances from the three leads, superb direction and cinematography. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of The Devil's Rejects (2005)

 

Written And Directed by Rob Zombie

Otis: "I am the devil, and I am here to do the devil's work."

Yesterday I wrote my review for House Of 1000 Corpses. That film struck a chord that a sequel came out two years later. The focus being on the Firefly family and the absolute carnage that they caused.

Mostly, the focus was on Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie), Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley) and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig). Their antics from the previous film had the law going after them, in particular the rather overzealous and excessively violent Sheriff John Quincey Wydell (William Forsythe).

The film quickly killed off Rufus (Tyler Mane) while taking Mother Firefly (Leslie Easterbrook) into custody and the latter absolutely revelled in being as vile to Wydell as best she could. She even took delight in reminding Wydell that her family were responsible for the death of his brother George (Tom Towles). Let's just say that Mother seriously underestimated how psychotic Wydell really was.

Don't get me wrong - the Firefly are psychotic scumbags who deserve to die but it's like this movie tried to make them sympathetic by making Wydell as unhinged as they are. When Baby, Spaulding and Otis are captured, it's almost sweet seeing them trying to protect each other. Even Tiny (Matthew McGrory) saving Baby was an oddly sweet moment.

Then there's the fact that for no reason whatsoever, the on the run Firefly family randomly target a family - husband and wife Roy (Geoffrey Lewis) and Gloria Sullivan (Priscilla Barnes) along with their daughter, Wendy (Kate Norby) son in law Adam (Lew Temple) and roadie Jimmy Cracker (Brian Posehn). None of those people deserve what they're subjected to and none of them made it out of the movie alive either.

The Firefly family really do spend this movie adding victims, enemies and even allies into their twisted world. The ending being one drawn out car chase with their fate left unknown would've been a decent way of closing this family out but a third movie would come out fourteen years later. 

- Wydell gets angry about a lot of things and disrespecting Elvis Presley was one of them.

- Characters from the Groucho's were used as aliases here. Not surprised the Firefly family kept photos of their victims.

- Standout music: Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird.

- Chronology: Took place during May 18th 1978.

The Devil's Rejects has some horrible moments and a racist chant that even in 2005 should've been removed but it's a solid enough expansion on the Firefly family and the people that crossed their path in this one.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Masque Of The Red Death (1964)

 

Written by Charles Beaumont And R. Wright Campbell

Directed by Roger Corman 

Red Death (to Prospero): "Why should you be afraid to die? Your soul has been dead for a long long time."

I'm continuing with my Vincent Price/Roger Corman Edgar Allen Poe and not strictly in order. I went for this one yesterday as I do like Price in villain mode and he's pretty dastardly here.

It's medieval Italy and Price in this film was cast as Satanic Prince Prospero. He's a mean spirited bastard who took delight in burning down a village as an old woman who had the Red Death (aka anthrax) died. On top of that, Prospero's ways of dealing with villagers also left a lot to be desired.

He's smitten with village girl Francesca (Jane Asher) and took her prisoner. He also Francesca's lover Gino (David Weston) and her father, Ludovico (Nigel Green) prisoner too. Prospero spent some of the movie trying to get Gino and Ludovico to kill one another and when he couldn't, he came up with a plan to cause despair to both men and Francesca.

Satanism played a huge role in this film. Prospero was a devout follower of the Dark Lord and wanted everyone to know that. His mistress Juliana (Hazel Court) took her devotion a further step in proving herself worthy. Let's just say she got married but not in a way that I'd recommend to anyone.

There's also the presence of the ghastly Alfredo (Patrick McGee). His abuse of dwarf girl Esmeralda (Verina Greenlaw) brought out the vengeful side of her lover, Hop-Toad (Skip Martin) and he's given quite the comeuppance. It's really satisfying to watch if I'm being honest.

Of course what was also satisfying was the reveal of Red Death himself and how he factored into the downfall of Prospero. It's beautifully depicted with a great dual performance from Vincent Price. The ending as well with the other cloaked figure was suitably chilling.

- The cloaked figures were white (Tuberculosis), yellow (Yellow Fever), orange (Scurvy), blue (Cholera), violet (Influenza), and black (Bubonic Plague). 

- Corman wanted to adapt this story as it was his favourite after House Of Usher (1960).

- Hop-Toad and Esmeralda appeared in the short story, Hop-Frog but were added to this adaptation 

- Chronology: Medieval Italy for the entire movie.

The Masque Of The Red Death is a fabulous adaptation of the source material with Vincent Price truly playing such a reprehensible prince. There's something truly satisfying in watching Prospero's comeuppance play out and the final scene gave chills.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of House Of 1000 Corpses

 

Written And Directed by Rob Zombie 

Otis: "It's all true. The bogeyman is real and you found him."

It's less than a fortnight to Halloween and I found myself revisiting this one late last night. It's the first in a trilogy centred on a depraved family of serial killers and a taste of the kind of filmmaker that Rob Zombie would turn out to be.

I'll admit that Zombie's tastes are often trashy for my liking and there's definitely moments in this film that I found pretty cringe in pastts but as a debut, it's not without it's merit.

Our unfortunate victims are a group consisting of Jerry Goldsmith (Chris Hardwick), Bill Hudley (Rainn Wilson), Mary Knowles (Jennifer Jordyn), and Denise Willis (Erin Daniels). They chose Halloween of all nights to go and explore the legend of Dr. Satan (Walter Phelan). Local clown Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) took delight in messing with them. He'd also be the least of their problems.

Having the misfortune of encountering the rather foul mouthed Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) would put these four into severe harm's way. If Baby was too much to handle, then the rest of her family - Mother Firefly (Karen Black), adopted brother Otis Driftwood (Bill Moseley), half brother Tiny (Matthew McGrory), Rufus (Robert Allen Mukesh) and Grandpa Hugo (Dennis Fimple) would only make things so much worse.

We're barely halfway into the film where the Firefly family have kidnapped and terrorised cheerleaders, murdered cops and turned Bill into a grotesque Fiji Mermaid and they almost got off easily. Jerry, Mary and Denise have their suffering prolonged as the Firefly family upped the sadism and even revealed the true story behind Dr. Satan.

This isn't a movie where a survivor would emerge. Mary got brutally stabbed and Jerry ended up being vivisected. Denise almost escaped until she didn't and her fate at the hands of Dr Satan and Earl (Jake McKinnon) sure as Hel looked bleak as anything.

- Although it was necessary to the film, I did find the cutting to the film bits rather annoying at times.

- The movie would spawn two very different sequels in The Devil's Rejects and 3 From Hell that would expand on the Firefly family.

- Standout music: Rob Zombie's Everybody Scream!

- Chronology: October 30th and 31st 1977.

House Of 1000 Corpses certainly set the bar for the aesthetic Rob Zombie would go for as a director. There's moments of brilliance, there's a homage to grislier horror of old and certain moments that you'd question the man's taste but it's a rather good debut nonetheless.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Psycho Beach Party (2000)

 

Written by Charles Busch

Directed by Robert Lee King

Florence: "I've never been to an orgy before. What do I wear?"

I'm half way through October and I'm trying to keep this blog as horror themed as possible. I'm also using this as an opportunity to catch up with old horror films that I've not seen before. This would be one of them.

Pre-Six Feet Under, I was aware that this movie was a cult favourite that had Lauren Ambrose playing the main role of Florence "Chicklet" Forrest. Its a pretty interesting role for her as Chicklet turned out to be a rather multifaceted character.

As Florence, she was kind of unpopular with only Berdine (Danni Wheeler) as her only friend. As Chicklet, she was the only girl in a surfer gang. Her presence in said attracted the attention of both Starcat (Nicholas Brendon) and the much older Kanaka (Thomas Gibson). Though the latter was more attracted to the fiery Ann Bowman.

Yes, Florence suffered from multiple personalities and her others ones were playful, violent and snobbish, much to the confusion of everyone around her. Except her mother, Ruth (Beth Broderick), who knew more about Florence's psyche than she was letting on.

Anyways there was a spate of murders throughout the community and it really did look like Florence was responsible. Of course, it turns out that the mild manner Lars (Matt Kesslar) was the real killer and it's a good rug pull moment until the ending also turned things on its head.

The film's filled with some vibrant characters. You get typical mean girl types like Rhonda (Kathleen Robertson) and Marvel Ann (Amy Adams) but the standouts were Captain Monica Stark (Charles Busch) and B horror movie actress, Bettina Barnes (Kimberley Davies). Both characters light up the movie with their scenes.

- There's a slew of hunky actors in Nicholas D'Agosto, David Chokachi and Andrew Levitas to name a few.

- Florence had a younger brother who died when she was looking after him. The Ann Bowman persona was a nod to Ruth's promiscuity.

- Standout music: Ben Vaughn's P-S-Y-C-H-O (Psycho).

- Chronology: This seemed to have a very 1950s feel to it overall.

Psycho Beach Party might be one of the strangest movies I've watched in a while and it's not even a new one. It mostly worked but some stuff didn't quite land. Lauren Ambrose unquestionably was the best thing about this film.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of American Horror Story: 13 - The Prodigal Son

 

Written by Ned Martel And Charlie Carver And Brad Falchuk

Directed by Gillian Robespierre 

Mr. Nas (to Ben): "So, are we going to do this nicely or is daddy gonna have to give you a spanking?"

Personally, I'm disappointed that Ben didn't get a spanking in this episode and I don't apologise for that. All of a sudden, our mild mannered hospice caretaker developed a bratty sub side to him and all because his daddy turned out to be Satan of all things.

Yes, Ben is the son of Mr. Nas but as I suspected, he's not Devan Campbell from the events of Apocalypse. If he were, this would've been the place to have confirmed that. Ben basically had daddy drag him around the Apollyon and bind him to a chair without the bondage aspect of it all. 

I'm going to blunt here. Joey Pollari and Paul Anthony Kelly found their best scene partners this season in each other that it's almost a shame Ben and Nas are related. There was a time when these two would've played enemies who hate fucked each other. Sadly that's not this time. Oh, well.

Mr. Nas was pretty blatant about wanting Ben to join the family business. Now, this was where the episode lost me. Nas's big plan all along was to go back to Hell and let Ben take over the Earth. That seemed really dumb. Surely, Nas would want to rule both Hell and Earth and keep Ben under control. Going by the way this episode ended, I can't tell what Ben has chosen to do.

Ben conveniently appeared at the Academy during the end, offering himself to the witches who only just learned he existed. Is he going to be a Trojan horse and destroy the witches from the inside? I can't rule it out. Or will Ben actually rebel against Daddy Dearest and help them send Nas back to Hell and relinquish any claim to ruling Earth? Ben did talk about wanting to do good.

Am I terrible person for saying that anything Coven related was my least favourite aspect of this one? I didn't miss them in the last episode and while their screen time was essential, I kept wanting to go back to Ben and Mr. Nas. On the plus side, at least everyone found out about Mallory taking out Michael Langdon and reacted accordingly. Cordelia in particular handled the reveal a lot better than expected.

- I can't wait for Ben to find out that Constance is his half sister. I wonder how he'll take that bit of news.

- If you thought Ben's overuse of AI was bad, then some of Nas's choice in dialogue was a lot worse by comparison.

- Ben has shown no actual powers whatsoever for someone being earmarked to rule Earth. How come Michael did?

- I did slightly laugh at Coco's offering of Captain Morgan's to Papa Legba and Madison having to be the rational one after the big reveals this episode.

- Standout music: Fleurie's Sirens at the end of the episode.

- Chronology: From the previous episode left off. Also a 1939 Vatican flashback where Pope Pius XII learned about the Antichrist from the box.

The Prodigal Son might have somewhat disappointed with Mr. Nas's overall plan being rather idiotic and almost destined for failure but I had fun watching him and Ben get to know each other. Joey Pollari and Paul Anthony Kelly had some good moments together. I really hope these last three episodes can bring the whole thing to a satisfying conclusion.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: 13 - The Devil Is In The Details

 

Written by Ryan Murphy And Ned Martel And Charlie Carver

Directed by Adam Penn

Constance: "Why the fuck did you choose me?"

Mr Nas: "I always knew this moment would come."

An episode of two halves with two characters linked by two other characters to boot. First, let's talk about Constance Langdon, shall we? She's been more than happy to serve Mr. Nas aka Satan himself, but it's now that she's starting to have doubts.

It's less to do with the moral implications of serving the Devil himself and more to do with the fact that Constance felt she was continuing a pattern of following influential men who she was smarter than. Constance believing that she's smarter than the Devil himself felt on brand enough. Even Mr. Nas could see the funny side in Constance's assertion.

Nas for the majority of this episode was played by both Fedor Steer and Paul Anthony Kelly. The latter got to wine and dine Constance whilst dressed as a matinee idol. Nas was more than happy to point out Constance's numerous misdeeds but also loved her for being a bad girl. Constance tried to seduce Nas but he turned her down. The reason being something that even I didn't see coming.

Constance being the daughter of Mr. Nas might be one of the biggest mindfucks in the show's history but it oddly worked here. Oh and that young man that Constance has been gaslighting and drugging? He's only her half brother. Yup, I'm talking about the bloke who recently discovered 616 branded above his backside a few episodes. 

Ben and the rather tedious Ashley went to a tattoo parlour to get some answers from a rather unhelpful artist. Ben got more flashbacks and realised he was raised by Satanists. He also went back to using AI to draw a rather obvious conclusion about Mr. Nas and we even got a slight glimpse of a darker side to Ben.

Ben attempted to kill the older Nas until the younger one revealed himself to the flustered hospice caretaker. It's a solid enough cliffhanger as Ben got to be in the same room with two very different versions of his real father. Ben's probably gonna need a lot of therapy if he gets out of this season alive.

- I knew Ashley wasn't to be trusted. In the least shocking reveal, she was working for Constance and Mr. Nas.

- Ben's nicknames expanded this week to Doogie Howser and Chicken by Mr. Phibes and Benny Brown Eyes by Mr. Nas.

- Taylor Dorium Nas or I'm Your Lord Satan. Ben literally needed his AI app to tell him that.

- Constance suggested Adelaide for the postal service and Tate for FOX News to Mr. Nas. Are we going to see either of them again before the season ends?

- Michael Langdon was finally mentioned and in the most deadbeat dad of ways by Mr. Nas. Constance's "grandson" was also a half brother. Bloody hell.

- Chronology: Set during the night for the whole episode.

The Devil Is In The Details provided a huge information dump for both Constance and Ben as characters. I think I like Constance being Nas's daughter more than I like Ben being his heir apparent. At the same time, I'm just happy the story moved along faster with this one and the next episode.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Pinocchio Unstrung (2026)

 

Written And Directed by  Rhys Frake-Waterfield

Pinocchio: "I don't like killing those people."

Having watched this movie, I'm officially caught up with this franchise. This was definitely a very, very gnarly depiction of the wooden boy who wanted to be a real one, no matter the lengths he'd go to.

Of course this Pinocchio (Jude-Evan Lloyd) was more of a prisoner and pawn of his maker, Geppetto (Richard Brake) and the latter had more of a preference for his human grandson, James (Cameron Bell). There's an instant bond between Pinocchio and James. It's a nice bond until it became very messy.

Pinocchio might want to be a real boy but he's got a lot to learn about humanity and his attempts of trying to help James went down a rather murderous route. James got involved in a car crash and Pinocchio horrifically ripped the guy to pieces.

For a large portion of this movie, Pinocchio was also being manipulated by the Talking Cricket (Robert Englund) at the behest of Wood Mother (Emma Tate). Both are pretty awful but actively encouraged Pinocchio's killing spree and consumption of organs. There's also a rather brutal scene that made me feel bad for a fricking dentist.

Anyways, I'll give this movie points because James had allies in both his friend Dudley (Jack Art Gray) and his teacher, Mia (Jessica Balmer) and Pinocchio had his own crisis of conscience. Pinocchio basically went from villain to antihero.

Geppetto of course took on the villain part, being a former student of a mad scientist and outright psychopath. There's a decent performance from Richard Brake but it's a rather rushed conclusion that seemed more interested in setting up a potential sequel than offering an ending to this one.

- There's a post credit scene where the Cricket tried to use vines off the tree to revive Geppetto.

- Robert Englund is mostly known for playing Freddy Krueger while Richard Brake has been a frequent collaborator for Rob Zombie. 

- Scott Chambers briefly appeared as Christopher Robin as did Peter DeSouza-Feighoney as Michael Darling.

- Chronology: Present day England.

Rushed ending to one side, Pinocchio Unstrung was decent enough. I do think getting the likes of Robert Englund and Richard Brake helped a bit with the film and the gore factor had a few moments that made me look away.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Bambi: The Reckoning (2025)

 

Written by Rhys Warrington

Directed by Dan Allen

Michael: "You ever shot a deer?"

Tyler: "No. Have you?"

Michael: "Yeah, once."

I had actually forgotten about the Twisted Childhood Universe until I was scrolling and saw this movie. I already ventured into the gnarly takes on Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan, what not an orphaned deer on a murderous rampage?

The movie started as you'd expect with Bambi losing his mother as expected. He's mostly alone until he mated with Faline and they had a fawn together. Then Faline got hit by a toxic waste truck and died and being whacked with a spade brought out Bambi's feral side.

Let's just say this deer isn't happy with a herbivore diet plan. In fact most of the characters in this film (not that they're particularly fleshed out) learned the hard way that Bambi had a lethal streak to him as well as a taste for human flesh.

Speaking of humans and because we needed a few as protagonists - there was mother and son duo, Xana (Roxanne McKee) and Benji (Tom Mulheron). They're likable enough as characters and just wanted to see Simon's (Alex Cooke) family, mostly his dementia suffering mother, Mary (Nicola Wright). It seemed like she knew more about Bambi than she was letting on.

The rest of the family included the likes of Andrew (Russell Geoffrey Banks), Harriet (Samira Mighty) and Harrison (Joseph Greenwood). The latter in particular was a dick to both Mary and Benji for no reason at all. Throw in some other horrible characters like Tyler (Big Tobz) and Eddie (Ewan Borthwick) and perhaps Bambi had a point after all.

Remember the fawn I mentioned earlier in the review? They're important because they were being mistreated by Tyler and Eddie and then that fawn was made an orphan by Michael (Adrian Relph). History repeated itself in quite a horrid way.

- Michael killed Bambi's mother and then Bambi. Mary killed Michael. Mary was the best human in this film. Mary also did the opening narration.

- Benji was convinced his parents were getting deported. I'm sure he meant divorced.

- There was some feral rabbits in this film but no characters from the previous three films.

- Chronology: Set during the course of a night. There are no day scenes in this movie whatsoever.

I found Bambi: The Reckoning to be okay enough. It's not particularly good or even bad. The acting's fine, the story moved at a fast enough pace but a lot of the scenes were hard to actually see because it was so poorly lit. The ending was top notch though. Best part of the film.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

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