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Hooptober 11.0 – Humanoids From The Deep (1980)

Being Film #3 for Hooptober 2024

I can appreciate all the breaks Roger Corman gave people through his films over the years. And I can appreciate the fun schlock of many of his films – with the best of them there’s a charm and imprint that can’t be denied. And huge kudos to the man for giving female directors a chance to shine: I’m attributing anything good about Humanoids From The Deep to Barbara Peeters who took a swing with this Jaws ripoff and inject a sense of fun and social consciousness to the proceedings. But if you know anything about this film, it’s probably about the image I used for the header, which is not only exploitative in the worst possible way, but was done so without the cast and crew’s knowledge. So let’s get into why a few inserted scenes basically makes this a non-starter for me.

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the night Evelyn came out of the grave

Hooptober 11.0 – The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave (1971)

Being Film #2 for Hooptober 2024

Last May I went on a big giallo kick, and out the vast number of new films discovered one of my favorites was The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, a great title for a gothic tale that had all sorts of twists and turns and some truly gorgeous cinematography. So when I checked out and saw that director Emilio P. Miraglia had done another giallo the year before, I jumped at the chance to check it out. And…it’s fine? The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave does a lot of similar things, a few that were even surprising, but still stands a step below Miraglia’s other, greater horrific work.

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two evil eyes image of the dead wife and the zombie cat

Hooptober 11.0 – Two Evil Eyes (1990)

Being Film #1 for Hooptober 2024

Despite having worked together on Dawn Of The Dead, it still feels a little odd putting George A. Romero and Dario Argento together on a film. Those are two styles and aesthetics that just don’t taste right bumped up against each other. That would imply Two Evil Eyes, their mini anthology (does it even count as an anthology if there are only two stories?) doesn’t work. Each filmmaker brings their unique vision to these adaptations or inspirations of Poe, and if it’s not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, it has its moments of gore and fun.

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hail horror hooptober 2024 banner

Hail Horror! It Returns for 2024!

Time keeps on ticking, doesn’t it? It feels like only yesterday I was exhausted, dehydrated, and mentally comatose after wrapping up the 10th annual Hooptober Horror Movie Marathon, and here we are, just a week away from Year 11. My streak remains unbroken, having participated in all ten previous marathons, and this time is no different, as I once again inundate your inboxes with horror … Continue reading Hail Horror! It Returns for 2024!

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Hooptober 10.0 – Strip Nude For Your Killer (1975)

Being Film #31 for Hooptober 2023

And so we come to end of the 10th annual Hooptober Marathon. And it had to end with a giallo, the mixed up genre I’ve been feverishly catching up on this year. The second I saw the title Strip Nude For Your Killer I knew I needed to see it: with a salacious title like that how could you not? By 1975 the genre was waning, and directors started blending in other genres (see Sergio Martino’s The Suspicious Death of a Minor, reviewed here) like police procedurals to give their films boost. Others, like Andrea Bianchi went the software porn route, and sadly, despite a great Edwin Fenech performance, it does this film no favors.

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Hooptober 10.0 – Raising Cain (1992)

Being Film #30 for Hooptober 2023

Oh, Brian De Palma. You are a master craftsman, and you wear your quirks on your sleeves. Raising Cain features aggressive sex, men dressing as women (although this time not nearly as problematic as Dressed to Kill, although who am I to judge?), heightened scores and your signature split diopter shots, fish-eyed lenses and a truly bugnuts performance from John Lithgow. Sure, your plot is almost cartoonishly ridiculous, but you execute it with such a sense of style I really can’t complain.

What more can I possibly want from you?

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