Category Archives: horror

Bats: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2022 Edition, Vol. 9

Bats: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2022 Edition, Vol. 9      Surrounded by an unceasing parade of bloodsuckers in human form (y’know, politicians. media -ahem- journalists, phony social activists and lawyers… a veritable Hellzapoppin’ of deceit, deception and … Continue reading

Posted in animation, books, Boston, crime, Drive-In Movies, horror, Movies, Mystery, photography, silent movies, vampires, women, writing | 2 Comments

Have I Got A Girl For You: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2021 Edition, Vol. 35mm

Have I  Got A Girl For You: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Dec. 2021 Edition, Vol. 35mm    ‘Tis the season for gift giving and avaricious wishful thinking and while the members of the militant pseudo-feminist movement (“Declare your independence, then … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, black cinema, books, History, horror, Movies, Mystery, Romance, women | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Exeunt, Joan: “Trog” (1970)

      “Trog”  (1970)      When a trio of amateur spelunkers accidentally discover and unleash a living and frisky missing link from a shallow cave, naturally the interest of the world scientific community becomes secondary to the interests of … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, Freddie Francis, horror, Joan Crawford, Michael Gough, Movies, writing | 1 Comment

Memorium: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2021 Edition, Vol. 6

Memorium: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2021 Edition, Vol. 6      In the aftermath of America’s annual amnesia as to the true meaning of Memorial Day aside from the now-popular three day bacchanal celebrated by those nursing that … Continue reading

Posted in Blaxploitation, books, Boston, horror, Movies, Mystery, photography, westerns, writing | 2 Comments

All Creatures Great and Small: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2021 Edition, Vol. 46XXL

All Creatures Great and Small:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2021 Edition, Vol. 46XXL      With the arrival of a theatrical film award season celebrating the achievements of a year completely invisible of theatrical entertainment, it has become … Continue reading

Posted in animation, Bert I. Gordon, books, Boston, Drive-In Movies, horror, kaiju, Movies, Pre-Code Movies, science fiction, silent movies, writing | 5 Comments

Getting Crabs: “Attack of the Crab Monsters” (1957)

       “Attack of the Crab Monsters”  (1957)     One of the immediate presumptions one can make when noting the presence of genre regular Russell Johnson in Roger Corman’s “Attack of the Crab Monsters” is that, as in … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, Movies, Roger Corman, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “The Undertaker and his Pals” (1966)

“Undertaker and His Pals, The”  (1966) A bizarre hybrid of a film which emerges as an extremely low-rent version of Harvey Kurtzman-like parody of the savage mock Southern Gothic sadism of Herschell Gordon Lewis. To boost the business of  the … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, Drive-In Movies, grindhouse cinema, horror, movie reviews, Movies | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Folly Du Jour: “Hand of Death” (1962)

        “Hand of Death”  (1962)      In “Hand of Death”  poor John Agar stars as his latest incarnation of an actor impersonating a career scientist whose altruism is perverted with exponentially monstrous results as he operates … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, John Agar, movie reviews, Movies, science, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

#MeBoo: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Oct. 2020 Edition, Vol. 35-24-36-43

#MeBoo:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Oct. 2020 Edition, Vol. 36-24-36-43     Amid all of the fuss of the current extended job interview between two fellows who, in the real world, would be underqualified to handle the complexities of being … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boston, Drive-In Movies, horror, horror films, Movies, photography, vampires, women, writing | 13 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Humanoids From the Deep” (1980)

  “Humanoids From the Deep” (1980)  If one were uncertain as to the gravity of the situation in the small fishing hamlet of Noyo, California one would need no further measurement than the overbearingly ominous music of James Horner which … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, music, Roger Corman, science fiction, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

It Came From the File Cabinet: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Late Aug./Early Sept. 2020 Edition, Vol. 47

It Came From the File Cabinet: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Late Aug./Early Sept. 2020 Edition, Vol. 47      It is with great sorrow that we at Chandler Swain Reviews regret to inform you that our traditional method of … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, biography, Blaxploitation, books, British films, comedy, Drive-In Movies, History, horror, Movies, women, writing | 3 Comments

Mirror, Mirror: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2020 Edition, Vol. XI-IX

Mirror, Mirror:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2020 Edition, Vol. XI-IX     History seems fated to repeat itself. The Age of the Selfie is the direct antecedent of the Golden Age of Mirror Gazing and both depend on … Continue reading

Posted in Alfred Hitchcock, art house cinema, books, Boston, comedy, crime, horror, Movies, women, writing | 3 Comments

Alone Again, Unnaturally: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Apr. 2020 Edition, Vol. 4077

Alone Again, Unnaturally:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Apr. 2020 Edition, Vol. 4077 Emerging from a self-imposed exile just in time to notice that the rest of the world seems to have cribbed our idea for a temporary avoidance of … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boston, British films, China, Cold War, crime, Drive-In Movies, horror, Movies, Mystery, war movies, women, writing | 6 Comments

Bump in the Night: “Dracula Sucks” (1978)

           “Dracula Sucks”  (1978)     If a similar exercise in post-“Blazing Saddles” era genre deconstruction by way of by way of a borscht belt savaging of genre tropes were to be inferred by as suggestively … Continue reading

Posted in Annette Haven, books, erotica, horror, Movies, Porno Chic, Romance, vampires, women, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Howl: “La lupa mannara” (1976)

      “La lupa mannara”  (1976)      Lycanthropy becomes the subject of pathology rather than mythology in Rino Di Silvestro’s “La lupa mannara” (“Werewolf Woman”), a film that features an unsettling performance by Annik Borel as Daniela Neseri, … Continue reading

Posted in crime, erotica, giallo, horror, Italian cinema, Movies, psychiatry, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Don’t Breathe” (2016)

“Don’t Breathe”  (2016)  Yet another example of Skinner Box cinema, presenting an unremarkable event, in this instance a case of home invasion by a trio of thrill seekers, which spirals into a nightmare intended precisely for the audience to enjoy … Continue reading

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Cold as Ice: “The Frozen Dead” (1966)

                 “The Frozen Dead”  (1966)      If one were take Hollywood’s version of history at face value, Germany’s defeat in World War II had little to do with the strangulation of resources … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, women, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mud: “X the Unknown” (1956)

          “X the Unknown”  (1956)      For those interested in genre filmmaking, it is important to remember that in monster movies the world seems to be populated by citizens paralyzed with fright so intense it … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Tagged | 1 Comment

Domesticated On Arrival: “Devils of Darkness” (1965)

      “Devils of Darkness” (1965)     Lance Comfort’s “Devils of Darkness” is a strange amalgam of vampirism and Satanic cult worshipping, both staples of post-Hammer British horror films, though here combined in an awkward brew which appears … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, Movies, vampires, writing | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

What’s Love Got to Do With It?: “El gran amor del conde Drácula” (1973)

          “El gran amor del conde Drácula” (1973)     Popularly recognized by Euro Horror enthusiasts for his continuing role as lycanthrope Wademar Daninsky, Paul Naschy portrays an unexpectedly sentimental variation of cinema’s favorite vampire in “El … Continue reading

Posted in books, grindhouse, horror, Movies, Romance, Spanish films, vampires, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

25 Pictures in Search of a Theme: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2019 Edition, Vol. 133524.48

25 Pictures in Search of a  Theme: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Sept. 2019 Edition, Vol. 133524.48s     Since the inception of Chandler Swain Reviews, we have engaged in the constant struggle between the search for Art and depth … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, Boston, Cecil B. DeMille, comedy, History, horror, Movies, Mystery, photography, Romance, women, writing | 1 Comment

Variety is the Spice of Life: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2019 Edition, Vol. 57

Variety is the Spice of Life: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2019 Edition, Vol. 57     In keeping with the CSR tradition of taking an entire month to upgrade, update and perform a much needed Spring Cleaning on the … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, comedy, History, horror, movie reviews, Movies, photography, Romance, sex, theater, women, writing | 8 Comments

By the Colouring Book: “Die, Monster, Die!” (1965)

            “Die, Monster, Die” (1965)     The literary reputation of H.P. Lovecraft receives a glancing body blow with “Die, Monster, Die!”, an extremely casual adaptation of his celebrated short story The Colour Out of Space; a film … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boris Karloff, Drive-In Movies, H.P. Lovecraft, horror, Movies, Roger Corman, science fiction, short stories, writing | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Labor Party: “The Mole People” (1956)

         “The Mole People”  (1956)   It’s a curious phenomenon when a cultural industry ignores a particularly prickly subject which merits serious dramatic representation simply through moral cowardice or, more disgracefully, through financial considerations which take into … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, John Agar, movie reviews, Movies, religion, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “Dracula” (1931)

“DRACULA” (1931) Starring Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Edward Van Sloane. Directed by Tod Browning and an uncredited Karl Freund. Written by Garret Ford, from the play by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on the … Continue reading

Posted in books, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Pre-Code Movies, Reviews, theater, vampires, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Middle Age Crazy: “The Black Sleep” (1956)

    “THE BLACK SLEEP” (1956)      Reminiscent of a poverty level variation of H.G. Wells’ “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, “The Black Sleep” is also a distant poor cousin to the clubhouse monster films of the waning days … Continue reading

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Mind Games: “Monstrosity” (1963)

                     “Monstrosity”  (1963)     “Monstrosity” is a film that has a great deal on its plate but none of it worth doing as it has already all been done better. … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, grindhouse, horror, Movies, science, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Egypt, Unwrapped: “The Mummy” (1932)

     “The Mummy”    (1932)     The first of the major Universal sound horror films which relied upon the invention of screenwriters rather than a direct literary predecessor, Karl Freund’s “The Mummy” enjoys the luxury in the depiction of the … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Karloff, horror, horror films, Movies, Pre-Code Movies, religion, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Staged Fright: “The Climax” (1944)

          “The Climax”  (1944)     Based upon the 1909 play by Edward Locke, George Waggner’s “The Climax” is a film with obvious pretensions toward elevating the Universal horror film to a more sophisticated and urbane … Continue reading

Posted in 1940's movies, Boris Karloff, horror, Movies, music, Romance, theater, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “Frogs” (1972)

“Frogs” (1972) Nature photographer Pickett Smith (Sam Elliot, sans dashing lip brush) finds his canoe capsized due to inconsiderate nautical etiquette and finds himself a guest of wheelchair bound curmudgeon Jason Crockett (Ray Milland, under a dashing Panama hat), island patriarch of … Continue reading

Posted in 1970's movies, Alfred Hitchcock, Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

From the Ashes: “Frankenstein” (1910)

                “Frankenstein”  (1910)     Though appreciably compromised in its filmic translation from the novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (an introductory title acknowledges the film to be a “liberal adaptation”), not only due … Continue reading

Posted in books, fRANKENSTEIN, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science, silent films, silent movies, theater, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Shooting Blanks: “Inseminoid” (1981)

              “Inseminoid”  (1981)     With imitation being the shortest route to the creation of bad movies, it was only a matter of counting down the minutes before “Alien”, a prestige recycling of the … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, education, grindhouse, horror, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Soulless: “Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS” (1975)

         “Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS”  (1975)     If history doesn’t present us with enough examples of inhuman atrocity, leave it to the movie industry to feel compelled to invent a peculiar hybrid combining the … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, grindhouse, History, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, sex, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Terror in the Wax Museum” (1973)

“Terror in the Wax Museum”  (1973) When the body of Chamber of Horrors wax museum proprietor Claude Dupree (John Carradine) is discovered stabbed with the scalpel of his waxworks Jack the Ripper, can an obligatory stacking of bodies be far … Continue reading

Posted in crime, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, Reviews, Romance, women, writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Dancing in the Dark: “Orgy of the Dead” (1965)

          “Orgy of the Dead”  (1965)     Death may be eternal, but it doesn’t hold a candle to how one feels sitting through “Orgy of the Dead”. If the opening narration, spoken by a visibly … Continue reading

Posted in dance, Ed Wood, erotica, grindhouse, horror, Movies, sex, women, writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Rainy Day Monday: Classic Film Photo Images Quiz, Oct. 2018 Edition, Vol. 23

Rainy Day Monday: Classic Film Photo Images Quiz, Oct. 2018 Edition, Vol. 23     Welcome again guys and chicklets to yet another in the long suffering series known as The Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, brought to you, as … Continue reading

Posted in books, comedy, erotica, History, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, photography, Romance, women, writing | 8 Comments

The Return of the Classic Film Clip Quiz

  The Return of the Classic Film Clip Quiz     Let us reintroduce this minor little visual quiz where we ask the musical question: Name the film clips shown. (Well, it’s not really a question, but it’s our discretion … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, comedy, dance, erotica, History, horror, Movies, Musicals, Mystery, Romance, silent films, westerns | 8 Comments

Slab Happy: “El cadáver de Anna Fritz” (2015)

       Slab Happy: “El cadáver de Anna Fritz”  (2015)      One need only glance at the sorry offerings on the local multiplex marquee to see that the commercial cinema is in a state of crisis. It is … Continue reading

Posted in crime, horror, Movies, Reviews, sex, Spanish films, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Shadows and Fog: “The City of the Dead” (1960)

       Shadows and Fog:  “The City of the Dead”  (1960) A caveat: the following article may reveal destinations of plotting that may despoil a virginal viewing of the film. Reader discretion is advised.           … Continue reading

Posted in British films, horror, movie reviews, Movies, religion, Reviews, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Stairway to Heaven (Or At Least To The Mezzanine): Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2018 Edition, Vol. 384

Stairway to Heaven (Or At Least To The Mezzanine):  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2018 Edition, Vol. 384     Life has its ups and downs and so do staircases. If you’re looking for a philosophical musing that’s deeper, … Continue reading

Posted in books, horror, Movies, Puzzles, science fiction, short stories, silent movies | 10 Comments

Revisit: Love Intestinal-Style: “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” (1974)

“Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein”  (1974) (Originally posted on April 18, 2013)    Filmed immediately prior to “Andy Warhol’s Dracula”, more popularly known as “Blood For Dracula”, Paul Morrissey’s “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein”, filmed under and later re-released under the title “Flesh For … Continue reading

Posted in 3-D MOVIES, Andy Warhol, books, horror, Movies, sex, writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Revisit: The Unkindest Cuts; or, How to use unchecked political correctness to victimize the very people you intend to protect: “Freaks” (1932)

          “FreAKs”                   (1932) (Originally posted on Feb. 25, 2014)      Long time the standard by which all “Golden Age” Hollywood horror films are compared for a sense of shock and … Continue reading

Posted in horror, movie reviews, Movies, Pre-Code Movies, Reviews, short stories, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Revisit: Poe in the Cinema: “Histoires Extraordinares” (1968)

“Histoires Extraordinaires”  (1968) (Originally posted on July 12, 2010)    The cinema is rife with literary adaptations and the works of Edgar Allan Poe have fared surprisingly well as a good number of films have captured, if not the essence … Continue reading

Posted in books, Brigitte Bardot, Edgar Allan Poe, Federico Fellini, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Roger Vadim | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Out of Touch: “Orlacs Hände” / “The Hands of Orlac” (1924)

   “Orlacs Hände” / “The Hands of Orlac”   (1924)  A Necessary Caveat: The following article contains analysis which reveals details of the subject film’s climactic events. Such details, if one wishes to approach the film with virgin eyes, should be approached with … Continue reading

Posted in books, horror, Movies, Mystery, Reviews, Romance, silent movies, writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

She Who Obeys: “Frankenstein Created Woman” (1967)

     “Frankenstein Created Woman”  (1967)     Considering the usual limitations placed upon the status of women in the Gothic horror movies produced by Hammer Films-  generally subsumed to decorative but insubstantial roles calling for little more than subservient … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, fRANKENSTEIN, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, movie sequels, Movies, Terence Fisher, women, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Desert Critters: “The Brotherhood of Satan” (1971)

        “The Brotherhood of Satan”  (1971)     Children may seem to to be the root of all evil in “The Brotherhood of Satan”, but it’s only a feint, thinly disguising the actual complicity of the town’s elders. … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Poe in the Cinema, Reviews, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Vampire Redux: “House of Dark Shadows” (1970)

                    “House of Dark Shadows”  (1970)     Within the realm of popular culture, so ingrained is the image of Count Dracula in the public consciousness that any manifestation of a … Continue reading

Posted in horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, Television, vampires, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Flop Sweat as an Art Form: “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966)

              “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken”  (1966)    If “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” were to be completely dismissed as kid’s stuff, a late arrival of the venerable haunted house sub-genre which had already … Continue reading

Posted in acting, comedy, ghosts, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, Television, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Brained: “Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter” (1966)

        “Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter”  (1966)      Released as a double feature with “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula”, William Beaudine’s “Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter” is the kind of matinee movie in which it might … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, Mexico, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, westerns, writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Necking: “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula” (1966)

             “Billy the Kid vs. Dracula”  (1966)    There isn’t a great deal of merit in William Beaudine’s “Billy the Kid vs, Dracula”, but the film makes an excellent case for the furtherance of black … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, vampires, westerns, writing | Tagged | Leave a comment