*contains spoilers Director and screenwriter Larry Cohen (1941-2019) died on March 23 of undisclosed causes. He left a small trove of low-budget B-grade material. Notable are the It’s Alive trilogy (1074, 1978 and 1987) about mutant babies. Those movies play on any expecting parent’s fears as, in the original movie It’s Alive (1974), a mother…
*contains spoilers Director Robert Altman’s Images (1925-2006 leukemia) is an, at times, puzzling movie about the creation of writing and the madness that lies in between. It is also one woman’s journey through insanity brought to life by a great performance by Susannah York (1939-2011 multiple myeloma) in the lead. Or is the act of…
Read more Actress Susannah York goes insane in Images (1972)
*contains spoilers Lest we forget the Snowtown murders, otherwise known as the bodies in the barrels case which was turned into a South Australian film in 2011. My cousin was a witness at the trial and an uncle who was on the police force said when the cops discovered the barrels in the old Snowtown…
Read more The Demons of Horror Director Ursula Dabrowsky and Others (Part Two)
*contains spoilers Deranged, at the time of its production, was the most accurate portrayal of the life of the Butcher of Plainfield – Ed Gein (1906-84 liver cancer), who dug up corpses and kept parts of them around his home as trophies and paraphernalia. He apparently even made furniture out of skin and bone. The…
Read more The Slightly Deranged Screenplays of Alan Ormsby (Part Two)
* contains spoilers Name: CameronAge: 59 Occupation: Former Pay Clerk Favourite Movie: Psycho (1960) First Saw It: I was seventeen on tv at home Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Martin Balsam Plot: Director Alfred Hitchcock adapts the novel by Robert Bloch which was based on the life of killer Ed…
Read more My Cult Movie: “… It’s still got the power to shock”
*contains spoilers Penny finds Steiner’s office ransacked and the killer attempts to strangle her but she uses a blunt instrument and escapes him/her/neither. Here the music, or lack of it, drives the tension. Is a life without music/sex worth living? This element seems built in to the tension of the sequence. Of course, after another…
Read more Craig Lahiff’s Aussie Hitchcockian Double Bill (Part Two)
Cult Film Alley 