Frank's Movie Log

Not a Beyond the Door sequel, but an original film re-titled. Mary Kohnert plays Beverly, a timid teen traveling to Yugoslavia on a class trip. Bo Svenson channels Sean Bean as the sinister professor Andromolek, who meets the students when they arrive. Andromolek takes them to a remote village where he intends for Beverly to star in a once-a-century satanic ritual. Continue reading...

I’m noticing a trope in horror films. A hard pause on the overarching threat while the leads engage in interpersonal conflict resolution. I suspect this grew out of Romero’s zombie pictures, which painted humans as the bigger monster. Shows like The Walking Dead have continued this theme. Continue reading...

A standard home invasion premise. In a secluded country estate, a couple finds themselves terrorized by unknown assailants. This entry favors suspense over explicit violence and gore. The sprawling estate packs ample creaky floors, shadowy attics, and ominous staircases. I loved the atmosphere, but the protagonists’ lack of agency proved trying despite the brief running time, and the epilogue robbed the film of any resonance.

A bonkers story of a man who begins sprouting metal. It mixes The Fly’s body horror with Eraserhead’s visual esthetic, sprinkles in Clive Barkeresque kink and even packs a tokusatsu-style monster fight. A seventy-minute industrial fever dream.

The costumes and dialog evoke Beyond the Valley of the Dolls mod. The shot-choice, saturated colors, and gentle grain ape Eurosleaze thrillers. But the story of a San Francisco witch desperate for love proffers neither mania nor mystery, making for a pleasant but uncompelling watch.

Angst opens with a young man out-processing from prison. Through voice-over, we learn he’s committed murder and spent more than half his life behind bars. He exits prison, wolfs down a small meal in a diner, botches murdering a cab driver, flees in terror, and stumbles upon a secluded estate. He breaks in and terrorizes the inhabitants. Continue reading...

I’m not a fan of Norwegian Black Metal or even its more accessible forebears. But Lords of Chaos is the Raging Bull of Norwegian Black Metal movies. Continue reading...

While not the first rape-revenge picture, The Virgin Spring proved a direct influence on Last House on the Left and its countless imitators. But director Ingmar Bergman isn’t interested in the visceral revenge thrill exploited by those remakes. He’s more concerned with the aftermath—of survivor’s guilt and rationalizing brutal violence. And of the never-present God facilitating the perpetual cycle. Continue reading...

Despite the tenuous connection to H. P. Lovecraft’s “The Outsider,” Castle Freak plays like a typical creature feature. Continue reading...

I went in knowing this had an all-woman creative team, but it was only after watching that I learned feminist activist Rita Mae Brown wrote the script as a slasher parody, but producer-director Amy Holden Jones shot it as a straight exploitation picture. Continue reading...