GhostKeeper

Films about the Wendigo( aka Windigo) are few and far between. I had first read about GhostKeeper in Caelum Vatnsdal's book They Came From Within : A History Of Canadian Horror Cinema. Its one of the earliest films depicting the Wendigo that I know of and Im a big fan of Larry Fessenden's Wendigo films so I jumped at a the chance to grab a copy. Now there are a few things I look for in a good horror picture. Atmosphere, erie soundtrack, haunting images, nightmares as a result of the haunting images, etc. Ghostkeeper has all these wonderful things.

Picture this. Jenny and her horrible boyfriend Marty and their terrible friend Chrissy find themselves shooting up a snowy back road deep in the mountains of Lake Louise, Alberta Canada. They reach the spooky Deer Lodge and quickly get snowed in. They find the lodge all but deserted...but warm inside. Marty blatantly flirts with Chrissy in front of Jenny for while before Chrissy regales the group fireside with a delightful tale about how she once had sex with a man for $40. They then run into a creepy old lady played by Georgie Collins who lives there. They convince her to let them stay and she soon shows them to their rooms. Thats when things start to go wrong. I dont want to spoil anything but I will say that Georgie Collins steals the show with one of the scariest performances Ive seen in a very long time(and she has an adorable interview in the bonus features of the Code Red DVD release)...and yes a Wendigo does appear on screen. Paul Zaza's sparse and haunting soundtrack brings delightfully erie feel to the entire film that seems to flow in and out with the constant sound of the wind. The DP John Holbrook does an amazing job bringing a dark natural look to the film and Jim Makichuk does a fantastic job directing.

Ghostkeeper combines elements from films such as The Shining, Black Christmas, & Screams Of A Winter Night and I mean that in the best way possible. Its true the film has gotten alot of criticism for lack of gore and the slow moving plot. But to me its damn near perfect. Its the type of film that sticks with you. The type of film that gave you nightmares when you were a kid. Its an essential canadian horror film to add to your collection. I recommend it highly.

Enjoy

The Fantastic Films Of S.F. Brownrigg

As life goes on the list of strange and rare horror films(and autuers of said films) gets shorter and shorter,so it is very important to cherish and preserve every last one of them. Finding a lone lost gem is one thing, but finding a small pocket of several wonderful and creepy films all by the same director is something even more rare. Enter S.F. Brownrigg, a talented texan responsible for a handful of creepy little slasher films spawned in the early to mid 70's. All 4 four films ( Dont Look In The Basemnt, Dont Open The Door, Keep My Grave Open, and Poor White Trash 2 a.k.a Scum Of The Earth ) carry a wonderful brooding dark atmosphere and a cast of familiar actors (most notably Gene Ross) that help put a unique stamp on the bunch. Dont Open The Door is most definitely the jewel and undeniably the creepiest. Although the quality and look can be likened to the films of Don Dohler, Brownrigg is a bit more classy. I highly recommend all his films and urge you to seek them out and indulge.Good luck with Poor White Trash 2 though, the only copy ive ever seen was at Movie Madness here in Portland OR.

List of Films-

Dont Look In The Basement a.k.a The Forgotten (1973)

Dont Open The Door (1974)

Poor White Trash 2  a.k.a Scum Of The Earth (1974)

Keep My Grave Open (1976)

The Blood of Heroes

This title has been recommended to me for years by my buddy Alec Shurtz, and when I finally watched it I could see why. One of two films directed by the writer of Blade Runner & Unforgiven, David Webb Peoples, This grimy post apocalyptic action flick holds up pretty damn well nowadays.  In the distant future a sport called only "The Game" is played by an elite group of athletes called "Juggers".The Game resembles football with bats and clubs and instead of a ball they use a dog's skull. The film follows Rutger Hauer's team of Juggers as the battle all the way to the subterranean "Red City". I was really surprised I never came across this film years ago seeing as I was obsessed with the Mad Max films for quite some time. I currently constantly urge pretty much everyone I know to watch this film.

9 dog skulls out of ten

The Blood Island Films

Blood Island is a wonderful place in Philippines were Mad Doctors, Green Blood, Green Beasts, Man Eating Trees & Panther Men roam free! This series of mostly filipino horror films were shot by Gerardo De Leon,Eddie Romero, & Al Adamson between 1959-1972. The first appearance of Blood Island was in the film Terror Is a Man a.k.a Blood Creature in 1959 directed by Gerardo De Leon. In the film a shipwrecked William Fitzgerald (Richard Derr) finds himself on the stormy island home of Dr. Charles Girard (Francis Lederer). It is eventually revealed that Doc Girard is conducting experiments that involve changing a full grown panther into a man. Relatively played out concepts but shot well and lots of dark gloomy atmosphere.

 The next in the series was Brides of Blood (regarded by many as the official first film in the Blood island "trilogy") in 1968 directed by Gerardo De Leon & Eddie Romero. This film boasts the first appearance of heart throb John Ashley (playing Jim Farrell), virgin sacrifices to an ogre like beast, and those Man Eating Trees, I mentioned earlier. Plenty of cheese to go around, quite enjoyable. The next film would be Mad Doctor of Blood Island in 1969 directed by Gerardo De Leon and Eddie Romero. This outing would be unique because of a new method of zooming the camera in and out wildly whenever someone was being attacked by the beast. John Ashley returns in this one, this time to play Dr. Bill Foster. The next film is the closest thing to an actual sequel in the entire series (being that the films as a whole all just take place on the fictional "Blood Island"). Beast of Blood directed by Eddie Romero in 1971 would take up right were Mad Doctor left off, with John Ashley reprising his role as Dr. Bill Foster. Regarded by many as the best of the Blood Island series Beast of Blood  boasts many memorable scenes, such as the opening action packed fight on the boat & the the severed head of the beast chanting "Dr Lorca!".

  Beast of Blood was technically the last film in the Blood Island Trilogy, but the studio hired the late great Al Adamson to do one last unofficial entry. Brain of Blood, which came out in 1972, was sequel in name only as well as being the only film in the series not shot entirely in the Philippines (parts were shot in California). Kent Taylor stars as Dr Trenton, who played Dr. Paul Henderson previously in Brides of Blood. Some may also recognize his sidekick Angelo Rossitto who played the smarter half of "Master Blaster" in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The film is about Dr Trenton being commissioned by the followers of a man named Amir (who rules a fictional place Kalid) to transport his(Amir's) brain in to a new body. The brain ends up being transported into the body of a giant deformed man named "Gor", who bares a striking resemblance to "Sloth" from the masterpiece The Goonies. Definitely the weakest of the series but still enjoyable and worth a watch.

So in review. Terror is A Man a.k.a Blood Creature was the first film to Feature Blood Island but not technically part of the "official trilogy" which consists of Brides of Blood, Mad Doctor of Blood Island, & Beast of Blood. Brain of Blood was the last in name only installment.

In conclusion I recommend all these films to the genre enthusiast. The Filipino film scene is often overlooked but Eddie Romero & Gerardo De Leon are extremely talented. Their films show quite a bit of character and skill...and everybody knows Al Adamson aint no slouch either.

-Film list-

1. Terror is A Man a.k.a. Blood Creature. 1958. Directed by Gerardo De Leon
2. Brides of Blood. 1968. Directed by Gerardo De Leon & Eddie Romero
3. Mad Doctor of Blood Island. 1969. Directed by Gerardo De Leon & Eddie Romero
4. Beast of Blood. 1971. Directed by Eddie Romero
5. Brain of Blood. 1972. Directed by Al Adamson

recommended yo.

Beyond The Black Rainbow

Somewhere in between Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising, & David Lynch's entire catalog lies Beyond The Black Rainbow brooding in an 80's synth heavy cloud of marijuana smoke. With all the buzz going around about this film I wasnt sure what to expect, and im still not sure what I saw...but I know that I enjoyed it.

Directed by Panos Cosmatos, son of the late great director George P. Cosmatos( Leviathan, Cobra, Tombstone, Of Unknown Origin, etc), Beyond The Black Rainbow is an extremely impressive visual ride with a score that sinks hooks into you from the second it starts. With a film so extremely visually driven I found myself very curious has to what the script for it must have looked like. After my first viewing I found myself haunted by scenes all through the next day, and the more I thought about it the more I liked it.

Front and center of this mesmerizing, psychedelic nightmare is actor Michael Roger's who conjures up the intensity of Christian Bale as Barry Nyle. His precious Elena is played awesomely by Eva Allen. Both seem right at home in their roles, and deliver provocative performances. I highly recommend this
film.

I hope you liked my review..I tried to use alot of fancy words.