Ancient Evil (5pc) (Unrated)

Rating:
Summary: A great and affordable mix of obscure horror films
Review: I love these 10-movie DVD packages Brentwood releases. Where else can you find 10 obscure, hard-to-find horror movies for one low, low price? Oftentimes one or two of the featured films make the set worth owning on their own, so what does it matter if a few of the worst films ever made come along for the ride? Actually, watching the worst of the worst that low-budget horror has to offer can be quite a fun adventure in and of itself. Ancient Evil, despite the fact that few of the included films have anything to do with ancient forces of evil whatsoever, is a particularly good collection from those wild and crazy guys at Brentwood.

Clearly, the greatest strength of Ancient Evil is its inclusion of the film Maniac. If you've never seen this 1934 cult classic, you are missing out on something really special. Maniac is, without a doubt, the best of the worst, a film so outrageous and horribly bad that you will want to invite your friends over and make them watch it with you time and time again. This granddaddy of exploitation films is one of the funniest and most unbelievable artifacts of cinema that you can ever hope to see. The Killing Kind is another strong entry in the list of selections here. An overlooked classic exploration of madness and murderous tendencies, this film will embed itself in your brain with its disturbing and poignant look at a highly dysfunctional mother and her special son. Staying in the same psychotic killer vein, you have The Sadist starring Arch Hall, Jr. I know the very thought of Arch Hall, Jr., is enough to make you run out the door screaming, but The Sadist is actually a pretty impressive and shocking film for its era. Horror legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee team up in Horror Express to fight an ancient alien being that has reawakened after its two-million-year old host body has been discovered in the icy wastes of northern Asia. You can't go wrong with a Peter Cushing film.

Psychomania is a movie I enjoyed quite a bit, much to my surprise. A young troublemaker figures out how to come back from the dead, gets his gang (already named The Living Dead, appropriately enough) to join his undead wrecking crew, and wreaks havoc until a certain cloven-hoofed one in fancy clothes is compelled to stop the kids' wild and murderous shenanigans. Project Vampire is another movie I rather enjoyed; here a vampire scientist is intent on taking over the world with the help of his special superserum, and only an escaped intern and his new nurse girlfriend stand in the way of his evil success. The strangest movie by far is The Passing, a pretty hard-to-find film that is essentially impossible to describe. The short summary of the film refers to a murderer who agrees to become a guinea pig at a medical lab in return for not being executed, but the core of the film really revolves around two elderly buddies trying to cope with the advancing footsteps of Death. These older men can hardly be called actors, but this is actually for the good and shapes this film into a rather dark and moving human drama with horror overtones.

Of course, with the good comes the bad. Anatomy of a Psycho sounds promising, but it falls flat on its face. The film is nothing more than a moral tale of juvenile delinquency and its terrible consequences; in my opinion, it doesn't even qualify as a horror movie. Beyond Evil sounds promising, with its story of an ancient manor housing a ghost more than eager to take over a new victim's life, but the movie is exceedingly boring and drawn out. Finally, you have Back From Hell. This movie has the worst acting I have ever seen in my life. There is a lot of blood and gore, which is normally a good thing, but here it all comes off as obviously fake and oftentimes just plain silly. Back From Hell prescribes to the idea that if you're going to be bad, be really bad. As such, it makes for one of those awful low-budget films that gain a cult status of sorts in the horror world.

All in all, Ancient Evil is a great buy featuring a handful of pretty good old horror movies alongside a few interesting mediocre efforts and no more than three complete stinkers. It is well worth the time and money of those espousing a love or fascination with obscure, low-budget horror films.

Rating:
Summary: A great and affordable mix of obscure horror films
Review: I love these 10-movie DVD packages Brentwood releases. Where else can you find 10 obscure, hard-to-find horror movies for one low, low price? Oftentimes one or two of the featured films make the set worth owning on their own, so what does it matter if a few of the worst films ever made come along for the ride? Actually, watching the worst of the worst that low-budget horror has to offer can be quite a fun adventure in and of itself. Ancient Evil, despite the fact that few of the included films have anything to do with ancient forces of evil whatsoever, is a particularly good collection from those wild and crazy guys at Brentwood.

Clearly, the greatest strength of Ancient Evil is its inclusion of the film Maniac. If you've never seen this 1934 cult classic, you are missing out on something really special. Maniac is, without a doubt, the best of the worst, a film so outrageous and horribly bad that you will want to invite your friends over and make them watch it with you time and time again. This granddaddy of exploitation films is one of the funniest and most unbelievable artifacts of cinema that you can ever hope to see. The Killing Kind is another strong entry in the list of selections here. An overlooked classic exploration of madness and murderous tendencies, this film will embed itself in your brain with its disturbing and poignant look at a highly dysfunctional mother and her special son. Staying in the same psychotic killer vein, you have The Sadist starring Arch Hall, Jr. I know the very thought of Arch Hall, Jr., is enough to make you run out the door screaming, but The Sadist is actually a pretty impressive and shocking film for its era. Horror legends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee team up in Horror Express to fight an ancient alien being that has reawakened after its two-million-year old host body has been discovered in the icy wastes of northern Asia. You can't go wrong with a Peter Cushing film.

Psychomania is a movie I enjoyed quite a bit, much to my surprise. A young troublemaker figures out how to come back from the dead, gets his gang (already named The Living Dead, appropriately enough) to join his undead wrecking crew, and wreaks havoc until a certain cloven-hoofed one in fancy clothes is compelled to stop the kids' wild and murderous shenanigans. Project Vampire is another movie I rather enjoyed; here a vampire scientist is intent on taking over the world with the help of his special superserum, and only an escaped intern and his new nurse girlfriend stand in the way of his evil success. The strangest movie by far is The Passing, a pretty hard-to-find film that is essentially impossible to describe. The short summary of the film refers to a murderer who agrees to become a guinea pig at a medical lab in return for not being executed, but the core of the film really revolves around two elderly buddies trying to cope with the advancing footsteps of Death. These older men can hardly be called actors, but this is actually for the good and shapes this film into a rather dark and moving human drama with horror overtones.

Of course, with the good comes the bad. Anatomy of a Psycho sounds promising, but it falls flat on its face. The film is nothing more than a moral tale of juvenile delinquency and its terrible consequences; in my opinion, it doesn't even qualify as a horror movie. Beyond Evil sounds promising, with its story of an ancient manor housing a ghost more than eager to take over a new victim's life, but the movie is exceedingly boring and drawn out. Finally, you have Back From Hell. This movie has the worst acting I have ever seen in my life. There is a lot of blood and gore, which is normally a good thing, but here it all comes off as obviously fake and oftentimes just plain silly. Back From Hell prescribes to the idea that if you're going to be bad, be really bad. As such, it makes for one of those awful low-budget films that gain a cult status of sorts in the horror world.

All in all, Ancient Evil is a great buy featuring a handful of pretty good old horror movies alongside a few interesting mediocre efforts and no more than three complete stinkers. It is well worth the time and money of those espousing a love or fascination with obscure, low-budget horror films.

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy B movie goodness
Review: This is the 5th Brentwood 10-movie set that I have purchased. This one had the best overall picture quality, and I will probably watch 8 out of the 10 again, which is pretty good for a bunch of B movies. Don't be fooled by the cover: there are no movies about mummies in this set. Also, the box said it included Psychomania but the one I got had a movie called Shiver instead. Now I will attempt to rank the movies from worst to best:

(10) Project: Vampire. I deeply apologize to the people involved with this movie for ranking it last, because it's not really that bad. It looks like something that was made for the Sci-Fi Channel. The acting was pretty decent; I just didn't find the movie that interesting. It was talky and not cheesy enough to be fun.

(9) Anatomy of a Psycho. Black & white J.D. movie, nothing horrific or suspenseful about it at all. It's about a guy whose brother is on death row who seems to be headed in the same direction. It's not that bad, there's some funny rebellious dialogue; I would think that fans of old crime films might like it.

(8) Shiver. This movie was full of loose ends and seemed like several different movies thrown together. Nothing made much sense. Therefore, I wasn't surprised when the end credits rolled and there were three different directors listed. It's about a satanic cult led by the Devil himself, and there are some weird and unintentionally funny scenes. You get Nazis, disco dancing, the Devil, a snakelike creature, and a couple murderous Indians with tomahawks. Horror stew, anyone? The worst thing about this movie was that a couple violent scenes looked like they were cut. With the terrible editing it was hard to tell. So bad that it approached Ed Wood proportions, so at least it was entertaining.

(7) The Passing. 70's movie that I wouldn't describe as horror, more like an indie film crossed with weird sci-fi. The main characters are two old men who move in together after one's wife dies. These two do not seem like professional actors, which makes some of their scenes effective and realistic. Early on there are a couple fairly shocking scenes, it gets pretty slow in the middle, and near the end there is a totally whacked out part that comes off as a 70's acid trip. I was pretty impressed with this film until the ending, which was abrupt and predictable. It was like they ran out of ideas and couldn't figure out how to end it.

(6) Beyond Evil. B-movie regulars Lynda Day George and John Saxon play a newlywed couple who move into a haunted house. Lynda becomes possessed by the spirit of the woman who haunts the house. It's hilarious cheesy trash all the way. Lynda really shows her lack of acting skills. The dialogue is great, for example, the recently-possessed Lynda: "I just feel like the real me took off somewhere and left a yeccchh in its place." Lots of fun.

(5) Maniac. B & W 1934 movie directed by Dwain Esper, better known for his movies Marihuana and Reefer Madness. It's basically about a scientist and his assistant who try to raise the dead, but gets weirder from there. There's some pretty shocking scenes for 1934, including a topless scene! Apparently this was a "roadshow" movie that got away with stuff since it was passed off as an educational film. Every so often there are titles stuck in that attempt to explain psychological matters like psychosis and manic depression; they have very little to do with the film. It's less than an hour long, and contains the great line, "Rats eating cats...well that is news!" In my opinion, the early scenes where they try to raise the dead look like they could have influenced Re-Animator.

(4) Back From Hell. Early 90's film that you will either love or hate. I loved it. Jack is a Hollywood actor who sold his soul to the Devil and then decides to go back on his word. He is pursued by a bunch of Satanic cultists, so he decides to call his childhood friend Aaron (now a priest) for help. The minimal story is all explained early in the movie, so the viewer gets to enjoy nonstop violence for the rest of the film. The actor who plays Jack is terrible, which adds to the fun: "There's nothing to worry about. I'm simply trapping the spirit of the Devil in the corpse in front of us." He delivers his lines like he is reading a grocery list. As a gore fan, I was impressed with this no-budget effort.

(3) The Killing Kind. Creepy 70's movie about a young man and his Oedipal relationship with his possessive mother, who runs a boarding house. A pre-"Laverne & Shirley" Cindy Williams plays one of the boarders, and actually looks pretty hot! The opening scene is pretty disturbing, and the main actors turn in strong performances. Includes one of the strangest dream sequences I've seen.

(2) Horror Express. Set in the early 1900's, this British/Spanish co-production stars Christopher Lee as a scientist who is transporting a frozen creature on a train. The creature, who looks like a cross between a rotten corpse and an ape, thaws out and the fun begins. You really can't go wrong with anything starring both Lee and Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas pops in at the end. Classic stuff.

(1) The Sadist. "Surely blowing my head off can't give you a thrill!" Three teachers have car trouble on their way to a Dodger game, and are terrorized by a psycho and his girlfriend. Black & white film from 1963 features Arch Hall, Jr. who turns in a good performance as the borderline-retarded psycho. Not horror, but entertaining exploitation.

To sum up, I recommend Ancient Evil to anyone who enjoys B movies. And if you get scared, just remember this line from Beyond Evil: "Blood always makes things look a lot worse than they really are." Hee hee!

Rating:
Summary: Cheesy B movie goodness
Review: This is the 5th Brentwood 10-movie set that I have purchased. This one had the best overall picture quality, and I will probably watch 8 out of the 10 again, which is pretty good for a bunch of B movies. Don't be fooled by the cover: there are no movies about mummies in this set. Also, the box said it included Psychomania but the one I got had a movie called Shiver instead. Now I will attempt to rank the movies from worst to best:

(10) Project: Vampire. I deeply apologize to the people involved with this movie for ranking it last, because it's not really that bad. It looks like something that was made for the Sci-Fi Channel. The acting was pretty decent; I just didn't find the movie that interesting. It was talky and not cheesy enough to be fun.

(9) Anatomy of a Psycho. Black & white J.D. movie, nothing horrific or suspenseful about it at all. It's about a guy whose brother is on death row who seems to be headed in the same direction. It's not that bad, there's some funny rebellious dialogue; I would think that fans of old crime films might like it.

(8) Shiver. This movie was full of loose ends and seemed like several different movies thrown together. Nothing made much sense. Therefore, I wasn't surprised when the end credits rolled and there were three different directors listed. It's about a satanic cult led by the Devil himself, and there are some weird and unintentionally funny scenes. You get Nazis, disco dancing, the Devil, a snakelike creature, and a couple murderous Indians with tomahawks. Horror stew, anyone? The worst thing about this movie was that a couple violent scenes looked like they were cut. With the terrible editing it was hard to tell. So bad that it approached Ed Wood proportions, so at least it was entertaining.

(7) The Passing. 70's movie that I wouldn't describe as horror, more like an indie film crossed with weird sci-fi. The main characters are two old men who move in together after one's wife dies. These two do not seem like professional actors, which makes some of their scenes effective and realistic. Early on there are a couple fairly shocking scenes, it gets pretty slow in the middle, and near the end there is a totally whacked out part that comes off as a 70's acid trip. I was pretty impressed with this film until the ending, which was abrupt and predictable. It was like they ran out of ideas and couldn't figure out how to end it.

(6) Beyond Evil. B-movie regulars Lynda Day George and John Saxon play a newlywed couple who move into a haunted house. Lynda becomes possessed by the spirit of the woman who haunts the house. It's hilarious cheesy trash all the way. Lynda really shows her lack of acting skills. The dialogue is great, for example, the recently-possessed Lynda: "I just feel like the real me took off somewhere and left a yeccchh in its place." Lots of fun.

(5) Maniac. B & W 1934 movie directed by Dwain Esper, better known for his movies Marihuana and Reefer Madness. It's basically about a scientist and his assistant who try to raise the dead, but gets weirder from there. There's some pretty shocking scenes for 1934, including a topless scene! Apparently this was a "roadshow" movie that got away with stuff since it was passed off as an educational film. Every so often there are titles stuck in that attempt to explain psychological matters like psychosis and manic depression; they have very little to do with the film. It's less than an hour long, and contains the great line, "Rats eating cats...well that is news!" In my opinion, the early scenes where they try to raise the dead look like they could have influenced Re-Animator.

(4) Back From Hell. Early 90's film that you will either love or hate. I loved it. Jack is a Hollywood actor who sold his soul to the Devil and then decides to go back on his word. He is pursued by a bunch of Satanic cultists, so he decides to call his childhood friend Aaron (now a priest) for help. The minimal story is all explained early in the movie, so the viewer gets to enjoy nonstop violence for the rest of the film. The actor who plays Jack is terrible, which adds to the fun: "There's nothing to worry about. I'm simply trapping the spirit of the Devil in the corpse in front of us." He delivers his lines like he is reading a grocery list. As a gore fan, I was impressed with this no-budget effort.

(3) The Killing Kind. Creepy 70's movie about a young man and his Oedipal relationship with his possessive mother, who runs a boarding house. A pre-"Laverne & Shirley" Cindy Williams plays one of the boarders, and actually looks pretty hot! The opening scene is pretty disturbing, and the main actors turn in strong performances. Includes one of the strangest dream sequences I've seen.

(2) Horror Express. Set in the early 1900's, this British/Spanish co-production stars Christopher Lee as a scientist who is transporting a frozen half-man, half-ape creature on a train. The creature thaws out and the fun begins. You really can't go wrong with anything starring both Lee and Peter Cushing, and Telly Savalas pops in at the end. Classic stuff.

(1) The Sadist. "Surely blowing my head off can't give you a thrill!" Three teachers have car trouble on their way to a Dodger game, and are terrorized by a psycho and his girlfriend. Black & white film from 1963 features Arch Hall, Jr. who turns in a good performance as the borderline-retarded psycho. Not horror, but entertaining exploitation.

To sum up, I recommend Ancient Evil to anyone who enjoys B movies. And if you get scared, just remember this line from Beyond Evil: "Blood always makes things look a lot worse than they really are." Hee hee!