2025-11-10

Streaming Kino: The Revenge Of Frankenstein (1958) - Peter Cushing, Terence Fisher

The first sequel to Hammer films' successful "Curse Of Frankenstein" (1957), also directed by Terence Fisher, and equally entertaining.

"The Revenge Of Frankenstein", featuring Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews and Eunice Gayson, continues the story of Baron Frankenstein's attempts to create life, and expands it here and there. It's a classic of horror cinema just like its 1957 predecessor, with a great performance by Peter Cushing, nice British understatement, dedication to detail, precise direction, and some exciting scientifically (in)correct monster moments. Beautiful, creepy Hammer horror!

Watch "The Revenge Of Frankenstein" (1958):

video source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbH0oL21W1s

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More information about "The Revenge Of Frankenstein" (1958):

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050894/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Revenge_of_Frankenstein

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2025-10-29

Review: Blood Sucking Freaks (1976, Joel M. Reed)

Master Sardu runs a very questionable theater, in which acts of torture are re-enacted on stage. Critics doubt his artistic intentions and achievement - and indeed the show isn't quite what it claims to be...

Oh my. We are kidding, aren't we? Well, ultimately, the answer just has to be yes, we are kidding - but first let's get a couple of things straight.

"Blood Sucking Freaks" is a cheap and very nasty little oldskool splatter movie from the 1970s. It's outrageously tasteless, sleazy, and gory. It easily rivals Jess Franco's mediocre (=bad) movies, maybe even his bad (=unwatchable) ones. But with much more gore. It makes no attempts at gritty realism, it's a reasonably proper low-budget movie, but what is visually going on looks more like an amateur school play with cheap prosthetics. There is a bit of a story in it, but about 90% of the screen time are devoted to little, hardly elaborate, build ups to, and depictions of, some sort of physical (gory) torture. When you're done watching the movie, you kind of wonder: Why the effort? Why the violence? What was this?

So, very clearly, "Blood Sucking Freaks" will offend a lot of people, in fact everyone, including horror film geeks. There's less storytelling in it than in a Herschell Gordon Lewis splatter movie, but the level of depravity is easily on par with "Two Thousand Maniacs!" (1964), if not higher. It has no strong character moments, no notable rhythm, neither in dialogue nor in structure, and the gore scenes pretty much neutralize each other, it's a more or less indifferent row of scenes with talking, and cutting limbs. (Yeah, it's gory.)

Having said all of this, one has to admit: It's hilarious. Some people had a lot of fun making this. It's really like children's play, only by and for hardly grown up grown-ups. It's so blunt and crude, and there's even a little hint at some self-aware subtext in there, that one can't deny it says... something. In fact, with some good-will effort, one could say it has moments where it makes a pretty good point about what it actually is, both in form and in content. An idea similar to the background of "Cannibal Holocaust" (1980), or "Natural Born Killers" (1994) - but waaaaaay (!) more simplistic and crude. So, there might be even a certain cathartic quality to "Blood Sucking Freaks", in one way or another, but it's highly questionable if this was the director's intention, and it's certainly anything but nuanced or subtle about it. (Definitely gory.) 

Well. What can you say. Obviously, this movie is not to be taken verbatim. It has a hint of atmosphere, it has a hint of charm, and a hint at a message - but it's nowhere near what is commonly known as a "good movie", regardless of budget. It's blunt, bad, nasty grindhouse(-basement), very-low-budget filmmaking for desensitized oldskool gorehounds. If you like that kind of stuff, you get the full package. The average audience will probably just vomit, not only because of the amount of gore, but also because it feels cheap, base and pointless.

It is up to the viewer to find out if watching "Blood Sucking Freaks" might turn out to be a funny or cathartic experience - but one thing is for sure: by common standards, in every regard, you most likely don't want to.

Verdict: It's sick. Whatever that may mean to you. 4/10  

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077247/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Sucking_Freaks

Trailer Video:

Sorry, no trailer video. It's a little too much, it might brake blog provider's rules.

But you can find it on the IMDB page, and here:
https://archive.org/details/TRAILERBLOODSUCKINGFREAKS

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2025-09-25

Streaming Kino: The 39 Steps (1935) - Alfred Hitchcock

One of grandmaster Alfred Hitchcock's earlier movies - and a real fun one.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - or maybe it's in the hands of the creator. Alfred Hitchcock has basically created beautiful movies throughout. Some might be a little more on the dark side, but all of them are charming, interesting, and exciting. "The 39 Steps" is a great mystery thriller that's more on the bright side of life, and it just oozes hitchcockian pep, natural charm, and suspense. Some of the more improvised looking scenes will probably put a particularly broad smile on your face.

Watch "The 39 Steps" (1935):

video source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-87HNuGmWM

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More information about "The 39 Steps" (1935):

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Review: Demoni 2 ("Demons 2", 1986, Lamberto Bava)

The battle was won. But humankind was never really safe. Someone makes a tiny mistake, and all hell breaks loose - again!

Yes, yes, and yes. We wanted more, and we got more. If you've seen the first "Demoni", then you pretty much know what the second one is all about. Who needs characters, when you can have hordes of scary, raging demons?

Cinema theatre was yesterday, now we have concrete apartment blocks and video tape. "Demoni 2" changes a couple of parameters, but otherwise uses the same recipe as "Demoni": Overdrive! The way it ties in with the original movie is very nicely done, and stylistically there isn't much of a difference. The good thing about "Demoni" and "Demoni 2" is that you get exactly what you paid for. It's wild, unhinged, in your face, loud, heavy metal, gory, slimy, gothic, demonic, hellish. 

"Demoni" wasn't a particularly intellectual experience, and "Demoni 2" is even less thought-provoking. It was never about deep psychology or evoking the viewer's forgotten traumata (or... was it?), but the second coming of the demons feels a little less charming, a little more wilful and off-the-shelf, lacking some of the quirkier quirks of the first one, so it maybe gets a little more lost in just blind activism.

But that doesn't mean it's boring. Oh no, far from it. The gore and nasty demons and everything is awesome as always, there are shiny muscles a-plenty, there's nice heavy metal music that's half adequate, and half irritating, and "Demoni 2" even manages to find a couple of new, inventive variations of the fantastic presentation of the titular monsters, using light and shadow, and a TV screen, to great, sometimes spectacular effect.

If you liked "Demoni", then "Demoni 2" is a no-brainer. If you didn't, you probably won't like "Demoni 2", too. If you've seen neither of the two, it doesn't really matter too much which one you watch first. Both "Demoni" are (almost) equally enjoyable, because the pacing and the visuals speak loud and clearly for themselves, as does the music, and the first part also works nicely as a flashback-sequel to the second part. Just remember: It's for your guts, not your brain.

Verdict: We're not done yet! 7/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090930/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demons_2

Trailer video:


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Streaming Kino: Carnival Of Souls (1962)

Herk Harvey's only feature-length directorial work is a weird, obscure little gem, that has gained a little cult following over the years. 

It's about Mary, who has a car accident that changes her life... It's a unique low-budget movie that maybe has a little flaw or two in storytelling, but also has "creativity!" and "vision!" written all over it. Its undead-ish modern-day "monsters" and occasional expressionist visuals predate some of the ideas seen in George A. Romero's "Night Of The Living Dead" (1968), and were influential on a number of filmmakers. The otherworldly mood of "Carnival Of Souls" is pretty much unmatched to this day. If you're a horror film geek, or film historian, it's a must-watch anyway. If you're not, just let yourself sink into the carnival, and enjoy the chills!

Watch "Carnival Of Souls" (1962):

video source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDfe-QHeUQo

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2025-09-24

Review: Night Of The Living Dead (1968, George A. Romero)

A mysterious outbreak turns people into mindless, ghoulish, flesh-eating monsters. Barbara, evading one of them, hides in a seemingly abandoned house. It turns out she's not alone, and the monsters within might be even more dangerous than those waiting outside...

There have been plenty of remakes and re-imaginings of the film, the best of which certainly is the 1990 version by Tom Savini and George A. Romero, and there are countless spin-offs and rip-offs, but nothing beats the bone-chilling original.

So this is where it all started, the one the set the rules for decades to come. Somehow, Romero had the idea to throw Richard Matheson's 1954 novel "I am Legend" (adapted to film as "The Last Man on Earth" and "The Omega Man"), EC horror comics, and the claustrophobic situation of "The Killer Shrews" (1959) together, to form one idea and script, and put it all on film, using little money and some help from friends.

The result is a very well made low-budget horror film with a somehow home-grown, hand-made feel - and a completely unexpected level of seriousness and depth. If you'd just quickly fast-forward through the movie, you'd maybe surprised by the big scope it has, but the real magic is in the detail, the dialogue, the tone. It's a great horror story with a (very) bleak ending - only this time, it's "us", not "them". There's basically no definitive bad guy that one could point at, and no hero that saves the day in the end - it's only us, being monsters, victims, winners, losers, strong, weak, good, and evil.

As in all good horror films, there's little to no romance in "Night Of The Living Dead". There's no place for juvenile heartbreak here, it's about the bigger picture. Romero had a razor-sharp eye observing psychological and social dynamics - the layout of the characters is like a simplified map of modern society. From the greedy businessman, who's tormented by fears of weakness, to the innocent kid that gets caught up in the action, and turns against its creators, every character in "Night Of The Living Dead" serves as an icon that represents an aspect of how humans interact. Everything is tied together by some great dialogue and acting, that feels authentic and well-grounded in reality, making it easy to identify with.

This thoughtful, sensible approach puts "Night Of The Living Dead" miles above pretty much all other zombie films. (Except, most notably, the other George A. Romero ones.) And it is what makes it a truly scary movie: It makes sense. From the moment Barbara is made fun of by her brother, in the cemetery, during the opening scenes of the movie, it becomes clear that a sensitive, thinking person was in control of this. The level of (black-and-white) gore is unprecedented for the time, and it leaves quite an impression to this day. Some of the editing and cinematography is both creative, and a nod to the era of silent films, and the pacing of the movie is dense, exciting, and steady. But all of the low-cost brilliance works wonders because the characters, the people in it, make sense. There is not a single dull moment in "Night Of The Living Dead", there is no plot hole, it's smooth as a clockwork, exiting, and thought-provoking, because the viewer can relate to pretty much every step along the way. Yes, it's us! Panicking, quarreling, fighting, trying to somehow get a grip on the situation, both on a personal, and on a social level.

"Night Of The Living Dead" from 1968 defines the modern zombie horror film, and is still easily in the top five of the genre. If not in top position.

Verdict: They're coming to get you - and they will! 10/10

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Living_Dead

> Watch the full movie for free in "Streaming Kino"...

Trailer video:

video source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVsbPBAWCGY

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Claudia Cardinale passes away at age 87

Oh no, more sad news. Italian goddess-actress Claudia Cardinale passed away just yesterday.

With a filmography spanning over more than 60 years, starring in more than 100 feature films, including such classics as Federico Fellini's "8 1/2" (1963), Blake Edwards' "The Pink Panther" (1963), Lucino Visconti's "The Leopard" (1963), Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968), and Werner Herzog's "Fitzcarraldo" (1982), she is one of the essential, classic actresses of her time.

Her beauty was legendary, together with Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren she formed the "holy trinity" of Italian cinema sex-symbols of the 1950s and 1960s. She won numerous awards for her acting skills during her career. In her later years, she chose more demanding roles, and won Lifetime Achievement awards at the Venice Film Festival and from the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia.

According to reports, she died peacefully in her home in France.

Claudia Cardinale in "La Ragazza Con La Valigia" ("Girl With A Suitcase", 1961)
 

Claudia Cardinale (April 15, 1938 - Sept. 23, 2025)

R. I. P.


Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudia_Cardinale