Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972)

I love watching movies in Italian (screw dubbing!) because, for the most part, I can understand them (I am Italian and speak it). Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key is a not-too-gory giallo with one of the best titles in cinema.

A privileged but failed writer named Oliviero spends his days boozing it up with local lay-abouts and takes pleasure in tormenting his wife, both physically and emotionally. When his mistress is murdered, Oliviero is the main suspect, until being cleared by the police. More and more bodies pile up and his wife wonders if he really is the killer.

While the first half of the film is pretty slow and mainly features Oliviero slapping his wife around, the second half picks up with several interesting twists and surprises. It features the famous Edwige Fenech as Oliviero's niece. There's lots of nudity, including a lesbian scene between Fenech's character and Anita Strindberg's character of the wife and a sex scene between Fenech and Luigi Pistilli (Oliviero), which is usually expected in a giallo. A black cat named Satan plays heavily into the storyline, much like Edgar Allen Poe's "The Black Cat."

This was an enjoyable giallo, despite being heavy on misogyny (Oliverio toward his wife), but pretty easy on gore. It certainly isn't the best in the genre, but it's worth checking out for the ending.

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Beyond the Pale (2006)

Beyond the Pale is an indie anthology that presents three different stories, all directed by Mark Steensland.

The first is The Visitor and tells of an unwanted late night guest that drudges up some painful memories.

The second, entitled Sucker, shows how a child predator/killer gets more than he bargained for when he kidnaps a seemingly innocent girl.

The third story is Lovecraft's Pillow, in which a writer gains inspiration from a pillow that belonged to H.P. Lovecraft at a high price.

All of the films clock in at less than 10 minutes, so they are definitely short shorts! I didn't care much for The Visitor, as I saw the ending coming, but I did enjoy the other two. Sucker especially took me by surprise with its satisfying twist ending. Lovecraft's Pillow was also a pleasant short film.

The films themselves look pretty good for shorts; the camera angles are all tight and very professional looking. For independent film, the acting was quite good.

My main complaint is that the films are too short! I would love to see what would happen if the films were longer...

Overall, a good effort by an independent filmmaker whose work I look forward to seeing more of in the future!

Eaten Alive (1977)

Tobe Hooper made Eaten Alive soon after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, but it certainly doesn't possess any of the horror that TCM does.

It is about hotel owner Judd, who likes to kill people that aren't as morally up to par as he is. His first kill is a prostitute, who seeks refuge from her line of work in his hotel. As soon as he finds out what she does, he feeds her to his pet crocodile. Others who get too close to his secret (or his crocodile) soon follow suit, including a traveling family, a few young locals, the family who comes looking for the prostitute and others.

Robert Englund plays a horny local boy and Marilyn Burns returns as my favorite scream queen. Englund and Burns are about the only good things in this movie...the rest is just stupid and boring. The pacing is horrible, the character of Judd isn't menacing and it just drags on and on...

Skip it unless you want to see a very young Robert Englund.

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Halloween: 25 Years of Terror (2006)

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror is a great 2 disc documentary chock full of interviews, on-set footage and tons of other goodies. I'm not even a hardcore Halloween fan (check out the hardcore fans in the convention footage included on the disc) and I still found this immensely enjoyable.

My fave was P.J. Soles interview as she takes viewers on a walking tour of Pasadena, where Halloween was filmed! After all these years, she is still adorable and one of my favorites.

A must for horror-lovers!

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Headspace (2005)

This little indie flick started out strong, with a young guy who has amazing, above genius brain power, though he pays the price with wicked headaches. He starts having flashbacks of his violent childhood...soon, brutal killings start. He soon realizes there are demons on the loose, released from his nightmares...This was an above average indie film, with decent acting, especially by the lead, played by Christopher Denham. Director Andrew van den Houten has definitely seen a monster movie or two, and knows to keep the monsters out of sight for most of the film. Unfortunately, the end of the film was only so-so for me. Also, the tone and pace of the first half of the film is vastly different from the last half, which kinda bugged me. However, I do recommend you check this movie out, because it's better than most of the crap out there now. Also it features the fabulous Olivia Hussey, among many other recognizable faces.

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Tales From Beyond (2004)

Tales From Beyond is an anthology of four stories that begins with a couple visiting an old bookstore to find a gift for their book-collecting friend. The owner of the store (Adam West) decides to show them his special rare section. As they go through the books to find the right gift for their friend, we are introduced to the stories one by one.

Story one features a man facing a troubled marriage. He begins having strange nightmares that are getting progressively worse and more disturbing. Can he figure out the meaning of the Abernathy house that appears in his dreams and save his marriage before he is driven crazy?

Story two is about a man who stops into a diner to grab a quick coffee. The only person there is the owner, Nex, until others start to show. The problem is, these other people appear to be from different times in history and the diner may be some sort of time travel hub.

In story three, a man discovers that his TV remote can fast forward and rewind time. He sees his own death on the news and goes back in time to stop it from happening...but can you really change your fate?

The last story is about a struggling boxer who is trained by a mysterious man who calls himself Goldie. Who is Goldie and can he help the boxer win for once?

It was a treat to see Adam West as a kind of narrator for the whole movie, and he was his regular creepy self. The rest of the film was so-so. It's not campy like Tales from the Crypt and not as cheesy as The Twilight Zone, but takes itself much more seriously. I enjoyed the first two stories, but the rest just went downhill. I had a problem with some of the acting - some of it just wasn't good! Also, the pacing was slow and uneven in places.

On the other hand, this movie had great production values and looked pretty good for its low budget. Let's not forget that it had Adam West! Don't expect gore, either, as I don't remember any blood at all. These short vignettes are more psychological horror than anything else.

Check it out if you enjoy horror anthologies without the campiness of Tales from the Crypt.

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The Gate (1987)

This lil' gem from 1987 brings back warm 'n' fuzzy childhood feelings for me. It really reminds me of being a kid in the '80s, what with crazy clothes, slap bracelets, side ponytails and demons in the backyard...ah, those were the days!

Glen (a young Stephen Dorff) and his metal-listening, know-it-all friend Terry discover a geode in a hole in Glenn's backyard. Digging for more, they stumble upon a smelly, smokey hole and find another geode that they eventually crack open. Meanwhile, Glenn's parents have left for three days, leaving Glenn's teenage sister Al in charge. Al throws a wild and crazy 80s party where some strange things happen. Glen levitates, moths are all over the house and there's a demon under the bed...

The boys start to realize some demonic stuff is going on and they realize that they've inadvertently opened a gate to hell, allowing the demons of old to come through into our world. A metal record is involved, detailing how to both open and close the gate. Just when you think Glenn, Terry and Al have defeated the demons, the demons come back with a vengeance!

Sure, this flick is pure 80s nostalgia, but that's what is so fun about it. I should have watched this and Ghoulies on Halloween! It would have been a perfect throwback to childhood...

Anywho, I love it when horror flicks use kids as the main protagonists. Everything is so much scarier as a kid! I've always wondered what I would do (as a kid) in a horror-type situation...probably scream my head off and run!

No CGI was used in this movie, just green screen and stop-motion/claymation. The kids are terrorized by little pint-sized demons, a henchman zombie and the big baddie demon daddy. All the creatures look totally '80s, but who cares? It was made in the '80s! It doesn't feature any gore, but then again, it's a family-type movie! Plus, it doesn't take gore to make an enjoyable and entertaining movie.

Watch when you're feeling nostalgic for the good ol' '80s or just feel like watching some kids stir up some demons in their backyard.

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