The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)

Director: Peter Cornwell

Writers: Adam Simon, Tim Metcalfe

Composer: Robert J. Kral

Starring: Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Elias Koteas, Amanda Crew, Martin Donovan, Sophi Knight, Ty Wood, Erik J. Berg, John Bluethner

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Some things cannot be explained.

Plot: After a family is forced to relocate for their son's health, they begin experiencing supernatural behavior in their new home, which turns out to be a former mortuary.

My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again? No.

Drinking game: Take a drink after every single jump scare (i.e. instant loud crash of music and sound accompanied by something on screen instantaneously appearing on the screen intended to make you jump)

I don't know why I bother with crap like this.  I gave it a shot, not knowing it was going to be laded with jump scares.  They happen so often it feels like a comedy, like I'm supposed to laugh or something.  It's ridiculous.  I couldn't take the movie seriously.  To make it worse, I watched the unrated, 102 minute extended cut.  The special effects are nice but the music and sound effects are in your face like someone walking backwards in front of you with their hands in your face while you walk down the street.  It's annoying as hell.  And why are movie haunted houses old, two story homes on a few acres of land?  How about making THE HAUNTING IN A MOBILE HOME?  I'd fucking go see that movie.  The carved corpses were neat and the ectoplasm was kind of cool but for crying out loud; why did the picture have to try so fucking hard that the only way it could illicit a reaction out of the viewer is to startle them with sudden loud noises?  Where's the fucking talent in Hollywood these days?  I'm so frustrated with the seeming lack of people around who care about making a genuinely scary movie without resorting to cheap carnival tricks.  AHHHHH, I'm so cheesed right now.  Maybe I can get three bucks for the fucker on Craigslist. 

Amityville 3-D (1983)

Director: Richard Fleischer

Starring: Tony Roberts, Tess Harper, Robert Joy, Candy Clark, John Beal, Leora Dana, John Harkins, Lori Loughlin, Meg Ryan, Neill Barry

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Enter the gateway to hell...at your peril!

Plot: A reporter moves into the ominous Long Island house to debunk it of the recent supernatural events and becomes besieged by the evil manifestations which are connected to a hell-spawn demon lurking in the basement.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

#178 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 2 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

Thirty minutes in and the only weird thing happening with the famous house is a death by flies.  Even when things start happening it's little bits that creep people out but John (Roberts), and rightfully so, holds onto his skepticism.  I liked that.  This flick is a slow burn, not wanting to give you all the goods at once.  I liked how once character narrowly misses death only to snuff it a minute later by another freak occurrence.  It pulls a POLTERGEIST (1982) with John bringing in a paranormal crew to set up shop in his house with cameras, microphones and lots of electronic equipment in the hopes of getting his daughter back and finding evidence. I'm not saying POLTERGEIST has a lock on that trope but they did do it the previous year and very successfully.  Man, I love that movie.  The cool thing about it was they brought in all this equipment just 15 minutes before the end of the film.  Once they're there, that night the spooks come out to play and the shit hits the fan as the house tries to kill everyone inside.  I LOVED the flying door kill.  Nice.

Howard Blake's score serves the picture well.  I'm a big fan of Tony Roberts so seeing him in anything gets bonus points in my book and it's fun seeing a young Meg Ryan a few years before she hit the A-list.  This was her second film and it'd be another 6 films and 6 years from her catapult into stardom with WHEN HARRY MET SALLY (1989). Filmed and released in anaglyphic 3D (red/blue glasses) the current DVD is in regular ole boring 2D but the film looks great.  I have a copy of the 3D print but I couldn't get the adjustments right on my projector in order to get a good 3D effect.  While this picture might be light on good scares it's still a pretty good haunted house movie and it shouldn't be overlooked because of it's low IMDb rating.  Overall this franchise has been pretty good.  None of the three films were bad.  THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) was interesting and had some good creepy scares but it was much too long and Brolin was rather bland.  AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982) was an improvement until the second half which went from a great haunted house flick to a run of the mill demon possession story ala THE EXORCIST (1974).  Had 2 stopped halfway it could have been one of the all time best movies of its kind.  Now that I'm through I've got the bonus disc to get through that comes with the box set.  Almost done...

Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

Director: Damiano Damiani

Starring: James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda, Jack Magner, Andrew Prine, Diane Franklin, Moses Gunn, Ted Ross, Erika Katz, Brent Katz, Leonardo Cimino

More info: IMDb

Tagline: If these walls could talk...they would SHRIEK!

Plot: A family moves into their new home, which proves to be evil, resulting in the demonic possession of the teenage son. Only the local priest can save him.

My rating: 5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

#177 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 2 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

The first half of this picture is pretty damn solid.  The weird shit starts happening to the family immediately which was really cool.  It gets creepy when the two oldest kids (brother and sister) have some incestual fun.  Burt Young was ferocious as the "quick to bust out the belt to beat his kids with" dad.  The story builds and culminates into a mass murder.  If the picture had stopped there I'd be giving this an 8/10 but it doesn't.  It continues for at least another half hour with the possessed killer (one of the family) and the priest who is trying to save him or her.  That was dreadfully boring and cliche'd.  If I should ever watch this it'll be up to the point the family is killed.  I love happy endings.

Burnt Offerings (1976)

Director: Dan Curtis

Starring: Karen Black, Oliver Reed, Burgess Meredith, Eileen Heckart, Lee Montgomery, Dub Taylor, Bette Davis, Anthony James

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Up the ancient stairs, behind the locked door, something lives, something evil, from which no one has ever returned.

Plot: The vacationing Marian (Black), David (Montgomery), Ben (Reed) and Elizabeth (Davis) rent a Victorian mansion in California for the summer and soon discover that all is not as it should be. For starters, dead plants come back to life and the pool appears to be a sort of trap. Behind all the strangeness are the Allardyce siblings, Arnold (Meredith) and Roz (Heckart).

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

#173 on Drive-In Delirium Volume 2 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

It's surprising that considering the talent involved, this isn't better. The performances are fine, music, cinematography, etc but the film falls flat for some reason. I'm sure the two hour running time has something to do with it, especially since it's really, really slow and there's nothing much more than suggestions that the house (or something) is driving these people insane. It's rather static. I REALLY liked the bleak-ass ending. THAT was neat and it would have been better suited if there had been a stronger near-two hour build up. I wanted to like this one. I'm a huge fan of many of the cast members. Dub Taylor is doing his fantastic Dub Taylor thing and Burgess Meredith is a gas to watch as usual (I really dig that guy) but they're barely in the movie and only at the beginning. Either one of those guys spread out over the entire picture would juice this up to a 7/10 without question. Hell, toss in Slim Pickens and you've got yourself a classic.

The Evil (1978)

Director: Gus Trikonis

Starring: Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet, Andrew Pine

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Escape is just a nerve-shredding scream for salvation!

Plot: A psychologist buys an old mansion at a bargain price and asks a colleague and his students to help him fix it up. Things are fine until a cross is removed from a stone door in the basement and satan himself starts wreaking havoc on each person one by one. Their only hope of ever leaving alive or dead is the ghostly resident that built the house.

My Rating: 6/10

Would I watch it again? Maybe, just maybe, when that widescreen DVD comes out.

#23 on Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

#39 on 42nd Street Forever Vol. 2: The Deuce (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

For the most part this is a standard haunted house movie. THE haunted house movie of the 1970s was to come out a year later, THE AMITYVILLE HORROR. At first I thought THE EVIL was a quickie response to TAH until I came to the imdb page to find that it pre-dates it. You can see by the plot that there's really nothing special. What is special, and this is important to the horror fans, are the kills. They're fantastic.


Remember that scene in the beginning of JAWS (1975) when the night swimmer is being jerked all over the place by the shark? Well, there's a scene in this one where the same thing is happening to this poor girl in a lighted room. The way it was shot and edited give the illusion that she's being tossed around by an invisible force. It's really well done and effective. Toward the end the evil spirit starts ripping her clothes off, stopping with her underwear. I guess he didn't have enough practice to take that bra off. Stupid ghost. It would have helped.






There's another great moment reminiscent of EVIL DEAD (1981) where Prine's character starts cutting his own hand off with a circular saw! Nice!!!



At one point their dog, Kaiser, gets possessed and attacks one of the girls. It's one of those 'jumps out of the darkness' kind of scares but the cool thing is that part of the sound effect for the dog includes the Tie Fighter scream from STAR WARS (1977). It's a little subtle but it's there and, for us SW nerds, it makes it that much cooler.

Oh, there's another kick ass scene where one of the kids is climbing down a cable from the 3rd or 4th floor at night during a severe thunderstorm. Crenna's up top waiting for the kid to make it to the ground but the wind picks up and starts flailing him all over the place ending with a lightning strike that sets the poor dumb bastard on fire!!! He doesn't hold on for long before he falls to his flaming death!!! Fucking AWESOME! It's shit like this that can really make a movie worth while.





The ending is kind of bizarre as they fall through the hole in the basement to come face to face with the devil, played fiendishly by Victor Buono. At first it seemed out of place but Buono's just too much fun hamming it up and I really dig the atmosphere. He's defeated and Crenna & Pettet make it out alive. There's a decent body count and every one of them met a lovely end. What more could you want?


I would have loved to have seen this in a big, dark theater. I'm sure it would have been more effective but the fullscreen overseas DVD is all that we've got for now. It's said to be coming out in Sept/Oct of this year in a widescreen release. It's definitely worth a rental if you dig that late 70s haunted house kind of thing.

Poltergeist (1982)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, JoBeth Williams, James Karen, a few kids that get the shit scared out of them

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: They're here.

Plot: A young family is visited by ghosts in their home. At first the ghosts appear friendly, moving objects around the house to the amusement of everyone, then they turn nasty and start to terrorise the family before they "kidnap" the youngest daughter.

My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? Yup

I remember seeing this as a kid when it first hit the theaters and it scared the shit out of me. It's been at least 20 years since I last saw it and it holds up remarkably well. I'm long since desensitized to horror and it's rare than anything on screen creeps me out even just a little bit. This still has it but to a lesser degree.

This is NOT a result of smoking weed.

It's the storytelling that does it. The effects are top notch and hold up nearly 30 years later (well, except for the face-ripping scene - that one shows its age more than anything). The images and scares hit the right beats.

This is NOT a result of smoking weed.

One nice touch was Nelson & Williams relaxing in their bedroom smoking weed before they retire for the evnening. It's good to show two responsible parents enjoying themselves, retaining a part of their life before the children came into the picture. It's no different than if they were drinking wine or having a couple of cocktails so it's nice to see it handled so well.

And I can't go without mentioning Jerry Goldsmith's fantastic score. Goldsmith had been knocking out great scores since the early 60s (SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964), THE BLUE MAX (1966), OUR MAN FLINT (1966), A PATCH OF BLUE (1965), PLANET OF THE APES (1968)), and the 70s (PAPILLON (1973), CHINATOWN (1974), THE OMEN (1976), THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL (1978), ALIEN (1979) and STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979)). Every one of these scores is top notch and are among the best ever written. Go to IMDB and check out his credits. I'd be willing to bet that you've seen 30 of this guy's films and probably remember the music to much of those). Anyway, POLTERGEIST is another in a long list of accomplished works that stay with you after you've left the theater or the living room.

This child IS a result of smoking weed. Don't take drugs to start a family, OK?

If you haven't seen this then you need to make this a priority. It's a fantastic ghost story that is still one of the greats after nearly 30 years. When you have kids you may have to explain to them what the hell TV static is and how sad is that? In a few years we'll be waxing nostalgic about the good old days when the TV fuzzed up after a big storm. Goddamn now I feel old.

The Changeling (1980)

Director: Peter Medak

Writers: Russell Hunter, William Gray, Diana Maddox

Composer: Rick Wilkins

Starring: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh, John Colicos, Barry Morse

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Whatever you do...DON'T GO INTO THE ATTIC.

Plot: A man whose family is killed in a road accident retires to a lonely mansion and begins to experience supernatural occurrences linked to the house's mysterious past and its previous owners.

View the "Ball Drop" scene

My Rating: 8/10

Would I watch it again? Oh, hell yes

Featured on Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

I don't get creeped out much by movies anymore but this picture was much better at it than most. The acting was right on target. Scott, as usual, does one hell of a job and it's his performance that grounds the film and keeps the audience with him. There are no eye-rolling moments. The story moves just at the tempo it wants and needs to. Too slow for today's audiences. But screw 'em. This is a damn fine haunted house story that doesn't jump the rails for even a moment.

There is a scene where Scott tosses his dead child's ball into a river only to have it bouncing down the stairs (and wet) as he enters the house. In any other film it would have probably been laughable. The director allows Scott's character to breathe a little longer than most as well as many of the scenes. They linger just long enough for you to relax and familiarize yourself with the room/characters/situations while he's slowly delivering the goods. This is easily the best haunted house movie I've seen. Intelligent, emotional and chilling. I even teared-up a couple of times - Scott is THAT good.