DVD Review: Bride of Re-Animator (1990)

After a 5-year hiatus, those mischievous abominators-of-nature Drs. Herbert West and Dan Cain are back, this time under the direction of shock godfather Brian Yuzna. Sadly, though the grungy production values, hammy acting and gleefully silly prosthetic FX will appeal to genre fans, this is a disimprovement from Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (1985).

After a pointless prologue set in wartorn Peru, West (the always watchable Jeffrey Combs) and Cain (Bruce Abbott, sporting an unspeakable mullet and all the charisma of an office partition) are back in good old Miskatonic University Hospital, Massachusetts. Far from discouraged by the massacre precipitated in the first film by his ‘research’ into reanimating dead tissue, West has redoubled his efforts to prove that consciousness pervades all flesh by reanimating individual body parts.

Meanwhile Police Lieutenant Chapham (Claude Earl Jones), whose wife was killed in the original Miskatonic Massacre, doggedly continues his investigation into West’s macabre practices. Irritated by his attentions, West kills and subsequently reanimates him. The crazed doctor then reveals to Cain his plans to create a whole organism from disparate body parts. Initially Cain is horrified, but relents when West suggests including the preserved heart of Cain’s dead sweetheart Megan.

DVD Review: Re-cycle (2006)

While Hollywood's horror hacks obsessively remake the gore movies of the 1970s, Hong Kong cine-siblings Danny and Oxide Pang have been quietly turning the genre inside out.  Re-cycle reunites the Pangs with leading lady Angelica Lee (star of their breakthrough hit: The Eye (2002)). 

Lee plays Ting-yin, a successful novelist whose public persona masks a troubled past. Following an awkward press conference, and an uncomfortable reunion with her ex-boyfriend, Ting-yin begins work on her new horror novel, and is suddenly plagued by terrifying supernatural visions.  The Pangs tease us with glimpses of a long-haired ghost girl - suggesting this is going to be yet another Ring knock-off. 

But the film soars onto another level, as the ghost leads Ting-yin into a bizarre parallel world, beyond our reality.  She journeys across a breathtaking CG wonderland, confronting lost souls, giant killer toys, a cave haunted by aborted foetuses, and hordes of screaming, snake-necked zombies.  It's a rare horror movie that makes successful use of computer graphics, conjuring an eerie, oppressive atmosphere.  The decayed buildings Ting-yin wanders past are recreations of once-famous Hong Kong landmarks, demolished to make way for the economic miracle.  As Ting-yin befriends a pluck little ghost girl, whose familiarity holds the key to unlocking her dark secret - the Pangs draw ingenious parallels between their heroine's suppressed anxieties and Hong Kong's forgotten past. Their ambitious subtext is given weight thanks to yet another brittle, sensitive performance from the gifted Angelica Lee, and her remarkable rapport with child actress Qiqi Zeng. 

Classic Hammer movie posters reissued

Good news for fans of classic Hammer movies - the pick of the film posters have been officially reissued.

The posters are back in print to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Curse Of Frankenstein, with 12 classic images available over a period of time. All are of the original 'quad' size, litho printed on 170gsm paper and sold in a heavy duty black glossy tube.

The first four of the 12 available are The Curse of Frankenstein, Countess Dracula, Vampire Circus and our favourite, The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires (pictured above). The remaining titles will follow over the coming weeks - and if you subscribe to buy them all, you will also receive a free copy of The Curse Of Frankenstein/The Mummy poster. This will not be sold separately.

All retail for £19.99 each, with postage and packaging free to anywhere in the world.

Find out more at the Posters and Stuff website

Flesh Eating Zombie Play Set

Ever wanted to make your own zombie movie? Well, now you can with this Flesh Eating Zombie Play Set.

All the figures are glow in the dark, including a nice mix of grave risers, crawlers, hippies, businessmen and a particularly evil-looking dog. Just about everything you need except for a couple of survivors to terrorise - you can always use a couple of toy soldiers or a Lego man for that.

Available online, the set can be yours for £14.95.

Find out more at the IWOOT website

DVD Review: The Night of the Sorcerers (1973)

Voodoo! Zombies! Vampirism! Leopard Women! Amando de Ossorio’s Spanish horror film The Night of the Sorcerers (a.k.a. La Noche de los brujos, 1973) has all of this and more, but even with all those terrific elements the movie failed to keep me entertained.

The film revolves around a group of naive jungle explorers who find themselves camping near a sacrificial alter used by a group of mysterious “sorcerers.” These voodoo practicing natives enjoy capturing women and torturing them before cutting off their heads and drinking their blood. Afterward the women return from the dead as leopard skin clad she-demons who roam the jungle in slow-motion trying to find more unwilling victims for the ghostly sorcerers.

The movies basic premise is interesting, but it never really comes together. It often feels like Amando de Ossorio can’t decide if he wants to make a kinky sexploitation film or a horror movie. The film suffers from its uneven direction that never fully exploits the films basic horror elements or erotic themes. The special effects are occasionally worthwhile, but they’re often hampered by the films low-budget and half of the films great international cast seems to be sleepwalking through the film.

Top five cult movies based in Manchester

After reviewing The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue (and with so much interest in vintage Manchester with the success of Life On Mars), I thought I'd throw together a list of my top five cult movies with a Manchester setting. If you can add to it (or indeed, strongly disagree), feel free to comment below...

1. Hell Is A City (1960)

A real lost gem, with Stanley Baker as the hardened Inspector Martineau, trying to track down an escaped con who has robbed and killed since his break, whilst trying to keep his family life together. American film noir - with a northern landscape.

2. Mrs Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter (1968)

Manchester beat kids Herman's Hermits have a dog - Mrs Brown - and it could win Herman Tully (Peter Noone) and his mates (The Hermits) some cash - if they can raise the cash to enter her into a race. So off they head from Manchester to London to make some cash as a band. Yes, it's a 60s band vehicle - but an entertaining one all the same.

DVD Review: The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (1974)

I'm not really a fan of zombie movies, but when I heard about a Spanish/Italian production set in the north of England in the 70s and with the title The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie), I just couldn't resist - especially with Amazon selling it for under £5.

And I'm glad I didn't. It's a lost gem, right from the opening scenes of city centre Manchester in the early 70s (it's changed, but you can still recognise much of it) and orchestral funk intro (John Dalton Street - named after a Manchester location) through to the zombie mayhem and poor-quality voice dubbing. It's cult movie central.

The title is slightly misleading as most of the action takes place in the Lake District (although the filming actually took place in Derbyshire's Peak District). And it all starts with a motorbike ride. The biker is called George (Ray Lovelock), a Manchester antique dealer who is on his way to Windermere to deliver some artefacts. Unfortunately his bike gets a bump off a Mini whilst refuelling, so he's forced to take a lift off the offending Mini driver (Edna - played by Cristina Galbo). But something strange is in the air - and it's going to affect everything and everyone in the area.

DVD Review: Plague Of The Zombies (1966)

In 1966, Hammer took its one and only foray into the world of zombies with Plague Of The Zombies, a support feature to Dracula Prince Of Darkness - and in truth, every bit as good (if not better) than the main movie.

This is very much zombie light - no flesh eating here, more a typically British take on the living dead set in Victorian Cornwall. Dr Peter Tompson is the local village doctor, worried about the number of unexplained deaths of young people in the locality. He contacts is mentor, Sir James Forbes, for help, who heads down to the village with his daughter to help the doctor.

When the doctor's wife is found dead, the doctor and professor discover that she's not as 'dead' as she should be. And late at night, they see her turn into a zombie. All evidence points to the involvement of the local squire - and the disused tin mine he owns.

Max Brooks' Festival of the Living Dead!

If you're on the hunt for some zombie action, the place to be is the Barbican in London in November for Max Brooks' Festival of the Living Dead!

Max (son of Mel and Anne Bancroft) is an expert on the genre and author of 2004’s The Zombie Survival Guide. He'll be introducing some real gems, including Night of the Living Dead (including a screentalk with Max Brooks), Dawn of the Dead, Dead Meat, along with Wild Zero and Versus (a Japanese zombie double bill).

The films run from 14th to 18th November, with booking now being taken.

Find out more at the Barbican website

Romero's zombies return in Diary Of The Dead

If in doubt, why not return to your first love?

That seems to be the case with George A. Romero, who has put aside plans to adapt Japanese horror Solitary Isle to bring more zombie mayhem, this time in Diary Of The Dead.

Reports suggest the plot is a mix of old-style zombie meets new-style horror, with a bunch of student filmmakers heading into the woods (yes, that one) to shoot their own scary movie. Except, they happen to run into a group of zombies, which means they perhaps didn't need to take those buckets of fake blood after all.

It's not clear whether the new movie is a sequel of sorts or a new production. All will undoubtedly be revealed when filming starts in October.

George A. Romero official website

YouTube: Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue (1974)

In my book, there just aren't enough joint Italian/Spanish horror flicks featuring zombies running riot in the north of England these days. That wasn't the case in 1974, when director Jorge Grau brought us the catchily-titled The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue, a tale of zombie mayhem in the Lake District - the living dead having been brought back to "life" by an ultra-sonic sound machine. Thankfully such machines were outlawed soon after.

You can pick up this badly dubbed 70s gore fest through Anchor Bay - or if you need more convincing, you can check out the original film trailer below, courtesy of YouTube. If you find any other cool trailers, let us know.