Horror Bites - Fashion House of Death

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1963)

Mystery killers with black gloves seem to appear everywhere in films about murder and mayhem. From the shocking violence of Deep Red to the farcical mysteries of A Shot in the Dark it's recurring motif but tracing the roots of the Giallo body-count mystery genre seems to point to the films of Mario Bava. Here we'll take a look at one of the most striking early examples Blood and Black Lace; aka Six Women for the Murderer. It certainly brings a particular level of Italian style to the proceedings with a garish 1960s colour scheme being mixed with plenty of dark shadows and sinister lighting. So let's put on the leather and get down to business.

HCF Review - Turf Wars

DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988)

He quit the gangs. They killed his girl. He became… Deadbeat at Dawn. Or so the tag-line for Jim Van Bebber’s blood drenched thriller would have you believe. But this isn’t a straightforward Hollywood revenge storyline, things are a lot weirder and a lot messier. It’s an incredibly filthy piece of work just to look at, and there are also certain visuals that might have been more at home on Arrow’s own American Horror Project. But purely as a gang warfare narrative things are a lot less cohesive both in terms of storytelling and the performances that this all hangs on.

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Scorecard

DECEMBER

FILM OF THE MONTH Black Christmas ☆☆☆☆
Die Hard ☆☆☆☆
Gremlins ☆☆☆☆
Lethal Weapon ☆☆☆☆
Mission Impossible: Fallout ☆☆☆☆
Paddington 2 ☆☆☆☆
The Blood on Satan's Claw ☆☆☆☆

Review Roundup - Annual Thing

2018 CATCH UP - PART THREE

To conclude at least for the time being let's take a look at what offerings have been taken up or produced by Netflix this year. As a quick aside regarding those releases I've missed, The Cloverfield Paradox is a mixed bag that is probably not worth seeing and has been done better elsewhere while The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a mixed bag that is worth checking out and could only have been made by the Joel and Ethan Cohen. There was also Mowgli, which is mostly an awkward repeat of Jon Favreau's Jungle Book until a third act twist when they remembered it was supposed to be darker. It's all over the place and is bound to be confusing or upsetting depending on the viewer. Anyway for the moment I'll call it a day and discuss some horrifying action, some horrifying horror, and some real human drama.