AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY ON ZONE HORROR…

CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD

I spotted this title on Zone Horror last night and guessed it was some kind of hokey, badly-acted, 70s Italian zombiefest, so smiled and got comfy.

Instead, it’s a 60s film I’d never seen starring Christopher Lee. Hokey it was, but in a Hammer Eurohorror kind of way.

 

Very loosely based on Poe’s Pit and the Pedulum, it’s about an evil Count who gets brutally quartered then comes back from the grave to wreak revenge on visitors to his castle. 

Okay, we’ve heard that one before (many times) but this offers some unintentional laughs, great atmosphere, a very addictive score and a big, wobbly polystyrene pendulum.

It’s rather slow-paced, but Lee is perfect as always, and everyone else hams it up wonderfully. The film is also known as various things, such as Blood Pit, The Snakepit and the Pendulum, and the delightful Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism.

Ah, they don’t name ‘em like that any more. Never mind your Wrong Turns and Hostels, give us a title that drips blood as well.

REC (2007)

REC is a Spanish Blair-witch style film in which a couple of documentary makers follow the supposedly routine night shift of Barcelona firefighters. They get called out to an apartment block when screaming is heard from a locked apartment.

Scares, blood and nastiness ensue. I recommend watching it yourself to find out what this entails; any further details could only dampen the effect.

Well realised with realistic acting - essential in such a style of film - this is a haunting experience and a gem in a modern world of hackneyed and mundane horror movies; for once there is not a bland, pretty teenager in sight.

It isn’t desperately original, but the genre staples are expertly handled and it rarely lulls. It’ll make you jump even when you know a scare is coming and the climax is both creepy and breathtaking.

Don’t worry about the subtitles. Don’t google it. Don’t even read the back of the DVD.

Just watch this bad boy.