ShangLuda Admirable film.

ChanFamous I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Bento de Espinosa This is a very cheap film. Acting is terrible and the story is just silly. It is so silly that it made me laugh many times. In the end, it even tries to convert its viewers to Jesus. Ridiculous.

sol- Two Englishmen kidnap the son of a mutual friend to keep him away from the clutches of a Satanic cult, which is easier said than done in this supernatural horror film from the Hammer team. The script may not be first rate (lots of rambling about good and evil, plus the optimistic ending feels very out-of-place), however, the film has many powerful moments thanks to solid special effects, a riveting music score from James Bernard and the unsettling implication that everyone is vulnerable and capable of being manipulated by evil. The film's best moments come towards the end as the Englishmen and some others are taunted by illusions of gigantic arachnids and a young girl in distress, however, the Satanic rituals in the woods are eerie too and bring to mind 'Race with a Devil' - which could have conceivably taken inspiration from what is depicted here. The film trips up a bit with the casting of Charles Gray as the lead Satanist; his piercing stares often come across as comical rather than menacing. Apparently, fellow James Bond alumnus Gert Fröbe was the first choice for the role, and that may have worked better. Sarah Lawson also makes for an uninspired casting choice and curious as it is to have Christopher Lee as a heroic protagonist for a change, playing a film's hero is not his forte. Rosalyn Landor is lovely in her precious few scenes though and Eddie Powell is downright creepy, covered in heavy goat makeup. This may not be Hammer's best film as some out there claim, but it is one of their more offbeat and interesting efforts for sure.

GL84 Gathering together in a large mansion, a group of Satanists use the friend of a Duke to finish their ritual, unaware that the Duke has powers of the occult as well and uses them in a war with the Satanists to save his friend and stop their plan to bring Hell on Earth.This was quite enjoyable and offered some enjoyable scenes throughout here. What really gives this one a lot of good points is how much fun this one has with its demonstration of the occult throughout here, from the initial opening party where their rude treatment spurs the discovery of the symbols that dictate the discovery of the group and their return visit where the demonic figure appears to them and nearly corrupts them before some last-minute rescues and the influence asserted over the follower during a hugely enjoyable car chase where he uses his powers to first break free and then escape his clutches following the high-speed pursuit through the woods which is a fantastic highlight. These displays here are given a really impressive amount of time here through these scenes that there's a really fine amount of action in here, not only the fine car-chase but also a rather fun black mass ceremony where the rituals and decorations are performed for the raucous crowd, the invocation of the goat-headed man appearing and leading into the frantic rescue attempt that makes for quite a fun time here. The attempts to break their circular protection field are quite fun as well with the howling, freezing cold winds and frightening apparitions that continuously approach them which is quite the enjoyable effort here as they all continuously battle them in an extended, one-on-one sequence. As well, the finale back in the cult's den is quite impressive with the powers again on display and really giving a fun overall sense of action with the fire crawling up along the walls which lets this one come along at a fine scene to close this out nicely as these positives all make up for the few flaws. The main issue here is a serious continuity error over the weakness of the coven area, as despite the conjurations and spells he produced it seemed that all he could do was hypnotically control people as long as they were looking in his eyes, so if you look away, he really has no power over you which is quite a silly change that drops this somewhat. The other flaw here is that it has a tendency to employ one of the most hated traits in a film where the one character who knows what's going on never explaining anything to the outsiders when performing rituals or actions of great importance that are going to save someone, so when they do something logical in a situation, you get a feeling he'll kill them right then and there for messing up the situation when it all could've been done away with had he simply shared his knowledge so they know what's going on and what's happening as they have no experience in the subject matter. Still, it wasn't a bad film at all.Today's Rating/PG-13: Violence and intense satanic themes and rituals.

disinterested_spectator When the Duc de Richleau discovers that a young friend of his has become caught up in Devil worship, he reveals that he has been studying the subject for years, and so he knows just what to do, because he has it all memorized. Now, in a movie involving the supernatural, it is important that there be a small number of rules, and that the audience learn early on what those rules are (e.g., in the traditional vampire movie, we know that a vampire must avoid exposure to the sun, cannot see himself in the mirror, cannot stand the sight of the cross, and can be killed by driving a wooden stake through his heart). Then the audience can be engaged in what is going on. But in this movie, there must be fifty-seven varieties of rules, rituals, and incantations you have never heard of, which we learn about only when Richleau pulls them out of his hat. As a result, there is no suspense, for we are reduced to waiting to find out about the next new rule.