Reviews

This is the type of film that may need to be viewed several times to capture all of its beauty and intelligence { just like Curse of Frankenstein from 1957} . If you don't like odd, non-mainstream films, steer clear of this masterpiece. For me, the artwork alone in this film is worth the purchase price of the videocassete. The storyline is a bit fantastic but seems to becoming reality in our world today. For being produced in the 1980s, this film is proving to be a prophetic vision of whats to come with Big government and Big brother wanting to control and monitor us.

There are many slow sections and the dialog can be quite hard to catch in many scenes { thats why I've watched it 6 times now} but if you can digest it all, it may prove to be well worth your time.

The film is basically about a world where people have evolved into robotic machines that have lost their individualism . They are only concerned about accumulating and procreating. The hero of the film has not succumb to this sickness and has not been " tagged" and monitored by big brother. His mission is to release a secret drug into the water supply which will change the way the human robots think and allow individulaism to once again be a part of humanity.

Yes, its very low budget, but for its time the computer effects and sound effects are very unique and the paintings are utterly fascinating. If you have an open mind, this film should impress and its prophetic visions are chilling.

A very low budget horror film that is successful on many levels. Originality, cool settings, great photography, several monsters { although they do look cheesy} and a very eerie atmosphere. Granted, the acting is quite amateurish but that can be overlooked because of the other noteworthy achievements in this film. I am convinced that Sam Raimi seen this film and based much of his Evil Dead on the ideas presented in this movie { although Raimi claims he never heard of or seen Equinox prior to his movie Evil Dead} . Equinox makes my list of top ten favorite horror films of all time and certainly is much more interesting and original then the consistently overrated and praised Halloween. Check Equinox out and remember that it was made by a bunch of mostly unknowns with a starting budget of $6,500.....

I guess one could say that the documentary on the making of Salo is better then the movie itself. The documentary will shed much light about the problems faced in filming a movie considered by many to be the most despicable of all time. Many things are revealed that may not seem obvious at first in just watching the movie Salo. Like how the child actors in the film are not actually children but young looking 16 year olds, which at the time, was not illegal to have them filmed naked for the movie even though it caused much outrage. Evidently this documentary is very rare but if you can track it down, it sheds much light on the film and director and actors involved in one of the most notorious films of all time....

Believe it or not, the reason this movie wasn't as great as it should be, was because of the 3 big name actors that were cast to try and gather more notoriety for the film. Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr. and John Carradine are so bad in this film its pathetic.Lugosi is a mute servant and he is somewhat acceptable but certainly does not help the film in anyway. Lon Chaney Jr. is so bad it is appalling. In fact, I've always considered him to be one of the worst horror actors of all time and in this film he lives up to that perfectly. Once again, he, like Lugosi, doesn't have any dialog but that doesn't matter. He overacts in a way that no one else ever could with his stupid facial expressions.

The final nail in the coffin is the dreadful acting of John Carradine making his appearance during the last 20 minutes of the film . And unfortunately, Carradine has some dialog and he delivers it with such an inept performance that it ruins most of the integrity this film establishes in the 1st half of the movie.

The 3 main actors are stunning....the Dr., his assistant, and the gypsy are fantastic to watch and some of the dialog between them is fabulous. The story line is also entertaining.

In many ways, I consider this film to be a " poormans" Curse of Frankenstein. The Black Sleep was released about a year before Curse of Frankenstein but one can see many simliarities between the 2 films...From the obsessions of each Dr....The simliarites are so great in fact, that I wonder if Terence Fisher had seen the Black SLeep and borrowed some ideas from it for his casting of Peter Cushings character.

I personally feel the Balck Sleep had the potetnial to become a classic horror film but the acting of the 3 well known characters was so bad, it ruined the movie and the pacing of the movie was not done correctly.

This film would make a wonderful remake...but then again, Hollywood may not improve upon it with there addition of digital and computer effects which would be used to replace any and all meaningful dialog that the original displayed...

Okay,lets look at this with some real perspective.Hats off to the producer/director for taking the big risk of trying to write a whole new script/storyline and veer from the success of the Micahel Myers ..teenagers in jeopardy horror film {which I find boring} .IMO Halloween 3 is the best/scariest/most original/well acted movie in the series and certainly much more enjoyable then the over rated original.I watch this movie every year around Halloween {but I make sure to stay clear of the 1st- 70s version} and it always entertains me even after repeated viewings.Of course because the film deviates from what everyone else expected it to be about, it bombed at the box office and got slammed by critics alike.Such ashame that the average person would have been more entertained if this 3rd installment in the series had once again been about Michael and his stupid mask yielding his knife and killing teenagers that couldn't act or speak interesting dialog.I will never cease to be amazed at how "inept" the masses of people can be.

Many reviewers of this film use a simliar logic in claiming it so awful , by stating the story is to unbelievable { and it is } but almost all horror films have unbelievable story lines/ villains. For example, what could be more unbelievable then the original Halloween and all the ones that followed it that resurrected the Michael Myers character ? I mean is it believable that multiple gunshot wounds , impalements, 12 " sewing needles shoved directly into the eyeball, 30 ft falls off of a balcony , etc, cannot kill Michael Myers ?

If we compare the originality of the story , acting, dialog , etc of Season of the Witch to the original Halloween , it would seem obvious to me which movie comes out FAR ahead.

The very fact that the masses in society hated Season of the Witch so much, helps prove why Hollywood horror films have become so repetitive and outright boring . Season of the Witch was such a refreshing change from the rubber stamped , killer in a mask scenario, that people in society did not know how to accept it , therefore , they hated it because they were pre-programmed to want to see yet another film about a evil entity they had already viewed in 2 prior films. Because of this, we have to balme both Hollywood and our society for the lack of creative horror films that the film industry has been cranking out on a high percentage for the last 20 + years. It only makes sense that if horror film fans and critics cannot accept and appreciate new and creative horror films that are willing to diverge from the same old themes , then Hollywood will not want to take the risk of bringing such films to the market.

The only 2 things I can think about Season of Witch that are slightly annoying are :

1. Its unbelievability { which is about the same level of the Michael Myers character }

2. The lil " jingle" theme that is played about 8 times throughout the film .

My sincere recomeendations to anyone who hates this movie :

Totally forget that the Michael Myers character exists, watch Season of the Witch one more time, don't try and anaylize the storyline or try to make it seem believable , and enjoy the creativeness of the plot/ characters, and recognize that the acting and dialog is MUCH better then most of the other Michael Myers Halloween films !

This film is a prime example of what all "B" movie producers in the horror genre should strive for.Excellent storyline/camera-work/character development and a great eerie soundtrack..all of these things that are so great in this movie don't really cost a thing and are usually missing in most of todays big budget horror films.I saw this back in the 70s when I was a kid on the late late late show and it is still 1 of my favorite "B" horror movies of all time.As usual, Peter Cushing is extraordinary and I will always argue that he was 1 of the most under rated actors in the history of film.The setting for the movie is just outstanding and even though I don't like John Carradine as an actor..this is one of his better performances {fortunatley he gets killed early in the movie so he doesn't have a chance to spoil his rare/good performance or the movie ..This is a must see...

Curse of Frankenstein should be viewed by all horror movie fans at least a couple times.The acting/dialogue/cinematography/colours/camera work/etc.are so great,that 1 viewing is not enough to take it all in.For example, 1 important theme that is overlooked is how none of the 3 characters are able to impress/influence each other the way they wish.Victor desperately wants to win Pauls approval/Paul wants to win Elizabeths approval/Elizabeth wants to win Victors approval and none of them EVER achieve this goal.It is a true love triangle of disappointment.The movie also tells the Frankenstein story correctly in conveying that Dr.Frankenstein is the true monster and his creation is just a sad result of his evil {I didn't feel the original Universal version did this well at all}.The teenager that plays young Victor Frankenstein {in the beginning} is incredible.He is cold/calculated and cunning and is only concerned with his primary goal of creating a lifeform right from his first meeting with Paul {his paid tutor}

Some of the camerwork is stunning,like when the monster 1st comes to life and Frankenstein opens the door to his lab..the camera literally flys thru the door as its opened to reveal the monster.Or at the end when Victor throws the lantern at his creation setting it on fire {the lantern is thrown right into the camera..almost making it look 3 dimensional}. I was astounded/shocked when Victor kills the old professor and how real that stunt looked when he fell head first onto the floor.

The ending could not be more poetic/irionic in that the only person that can save Victor is Paul {since he is the only living person to know about the creature} and as hard as it is for Paul to let Victor go to the guillotine,he knows its an absolute necessity because Victor is sick in the head and needs to be executed

Get this movie..watch it several times [ I've watched it over 30 times} and appreciate its greatness.They don't make em like this anymore..and probably never will.