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ZAAT, a review by Jimmy

Title: ZAAT (1971)

Genre: Science-Fiction / Horror
Director: Don Barton
Rating: NR
Length: 1h40
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78.1
Audio: English
Subtitles: Spanish

Stars:
Marshall Grauer   
Wade Popwell
Paul Galloway
Gerald Cruse   
Sanna Ringhaver   

Plot:
Brace yourself for one of the craziest, silliest, most notorious (and most sought-after) underground monster movies of the 1970s.
Strange occurrences begin to plague Cypress Grove after a disgruntled ex-Nazi scientist (Marshall Grauer) disappears into his makeshift lab on the outskirts of town, only to re-appear as a half-human, half-catfish monster. As part of his sinister plan to rule the world, he also takes to polluting the local waterways. mutating the local aquatic wildlife. The mismatched duo tasked with keeping the townfolk safe is made up of of a young biologist (Gerald Cruse) and grizzled redneck sheriff (Paul Galloway). But quickly realizing they're in over their heads, a call goes out to the Inter-Nations Phenomena Investigations Team (INPIT for short). Before you can say "catfish po'boy" a groovy RV rolls in to the small southern town, driven by a pair of special agents (Dave Dickerson and the lovely Shanna Ringhaver) armed with a six-wheeled dune buggy-like Amphicat. But will it be enough to take on the deranged creature and his army of deadly mutant catfish?

This one was a really nice surprise as I expected some silly man in cheap suit non-sense. Sure it's a man in a suit, but he is a good physical actor. This is more or less a "remake" of Creature from the Black Lagoon and it is much better than most of the other remakes of this Universal classic. Evidently this is a low budget production but they had a lot of cooperation from Marine Land so the lab set is impressive. The underwater cinematography is also professionally done.

This is really an enjoyable movie that you can watch with your kids since there is no real violence and nudity in it. Give it a try you won't regret it at all believe me.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 8th, 2013)

Suspiria, a review by Jon

Suspiria
5 out of 5



An American girl arrives late at a German dance academy in time to see a girl running away, who is murdered soon after. Other strange events follow and she finds out about the mysterious history of the school and that it used to be a front for a coven of witches before being destroyed in a fire.

Here's me, finally dipping my big toe into the murky, bloody waters of Italian horror. I've wanted to see Suspiria for a very long time as it is spoken of with great reverance.

It didn't disappoint, though it did take a little getting used to. It is at once faithfully developing and adhering to old techniques of genre film-making, while also pushing it to its very limits in ways even the independent spirit of 70s films would find impossible to match. As such, it is genuinely shocking, even today, with one scene in particular making a complete mockery of the entire Saw franchise. It's too easy to be snobbish though, so to put it in context, it was released the same year Spielberg invented the blockbuster in Jaws, three years after The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and two before Alien. 

Horror is the most visual of the original genres, developed from German Expressionism where Gothic architecture and ominous shadows became the essential building blocks of any scary movie. The school is a perfect setting for a classic horror then, with everything from huge halls, creepy attics and secret rooms.

But what's changed over the years in general is that those core elements have softened; either audiences have become desensitised to the OTT visual style of old-school horror, or studios prefer something more generic and so soften the edges.

Dario Argento doesn't follow that thinking at all. He takes his typical Gothic mansion and enthusiastically drenches it colour. Every set is dazzlingly different to the last, in both decor and lighting. Even the narrative alludes to it, with a teacher conducting lessons in either the "red room" or the "yellow room". There is a blue room as well and Argento uses those primary colours along with windows and reflections to emphasise a hidden world just behind what we can see.

This is perhaps demonstrated best in a memorable scene when all the students are forced to abandon their rooms and have to sleep in makeshift beds all together in a hall that the teachers have hastily prepared. Sheets are hung from the ceiling to form a barrier inside the hall. When the lights are turned off, instead of the expected darkness, we get a deep dark red with shadows moving along the sheets.

Brilliantly effective, Argento never takes the obvious route in this film and defies convention whenever possible. This assault on convention and the senses is also in the soundtrack from Goblin. I'd forgotten about their wonderful, brief theme in Dawn of the Dead and this is similarly bonkers. It sounds like they threw everything into it! There's even a voice screaming "witch!" in the mix. At times, I found it a bit much, but then I wasn't expecting such a visceral experience overall and repeat viewings will let me appreciate it properly. When the girl is departing the airport at the very start, the music is only heard when the doors at the front open. Nice gag and underlines the idea she's stepping into a new world.

So it's all very pretty in a foreboding way, but these Italian films are known for their blood soaked murders. Suspiria opens with one of the best movie murders I've ever seen and has one or two more that are very powerful indeed. Not so much for their aesthetics, but just because they get under your skin and again challenge what you may expect to be the norm. Continuing the notion of hidden worlds, a lot of windows get smashed during these scenes. The first victim is suffocated against the glass before it finally breaks.



(From October Marathon: Horror! on October 26th, 2008)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Ghost Whisperer
Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is a young newlywed with the unique gift to communicate with spirits of people who have died - a talent that was inherited from her grandmother.

The dead seek out Melinda's ability to help them relay significant messages and information to the living. Despite her fear, compassion compels her to help these earthbound spirits cross over by completing their unfinished business with the living. Relive these amazing journeys in all 22 first-season episodes.

Pilot
Melinda is haunted by the spirit of a restless soldier who died 30 years ago in Vietnam. She helps the veteran and his living son find closure.

My Thoughts:
A wonderful series... one of my all-time favorites. This series is what made me a big Jennifer Love Hewitt fan.... as while I did hear of her before I really wasn't that familiar with her until this show. In the early episodes the show was focused more on the dramatic touching storylines. But it didn't take long for it to become more then that. To put some eerie scenes into the show. To put an over-all story arc. If by chance you never seen this show... I highly recommend it.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on January 26th, 2010)