Friday, 9 May 2025

776 Howling V : The Rebirth (1989)

 By  this  point  in  the  franchise, the films were going straight to video and it's not hard to see why. This  film is completely dreadful. What plot it has is filched from The  Beast Must Die. It's badly acted, badly directed, badly lit , not remotely  scary and the  special effects are risible. Philip Davis must have needed the cash badly  to have  appeared in this.

Victoria Catlin ( as Jane )

Sex : Jane is having an affair with a married man

Death : Jane has her throat torn out by the werewolf


This  was  Victoria's final film

Elisabeth She ( as Marylou )

Sex : Marylou bathes nude with a man but rejects his advances

Death : Survives


Elisabeth appears in two more films in the franchise but hasnt worked outside it.

Stephanie Faulkner ( as Gail )

Sex :  No

Death : Gail has her throat torn out (but takes a remarkably long time to die)


Stephanie had a promising start to her acting career with a good role in the blacksploitation picture The Bus Is Coming in 1971  but spent  the  next  20 years in bit part roles in both film and TV. This was her final screen appearance.

Mary Stavin ( as Anna )

Sex : Anna  is spied on while bathing

Death : Anna has her throat torn out


Mary is from Sweden and shot to fame when she became Miss World in 1977. After dalliances with Graeme Souness and George Best  and a shot at pop music , she had a moderately  successful acting career, appearing in two Bond films before settling into married life in  2002.  She has made the odd screen appearance since  then but  has  also worked in a library.

Renata Szadtler ( as Susan )

Sex : No

Death : Accidentally decapitated with an axe


Renata was a Hungarian model who first appeared in Dire Straits' Money For Nothing" video. She appeared in a dozen or  so Hungarian films in  the  eighties and nineties but this was her only English language film.






Monday, 5 May 2025

775 Edge of Sanity ( 1989 )

 Anthony Perkins stars in this joint British American and French production which blends fact and fiction with the  tale of  Jekyll and Hyde blurring  into Jack The Ripper. Director Gerard Kikoine is clearly  a  fan of Ken Russell with the  garish and violent sexual imagery and  blatant  anachronisms taking priority over coherent  story-telling. Perkins just about holds it together despite an unconvincoing British accent  but  it's a disappointing return for  an  obviously big budget production.

Glynis Barber ( as  Elisabeth )

Sex : Elisabeth offers herself to her husband but he is distracted by visions

Death : Mr Hyde slits her throat


Glynis was born in South Africa and came to the UK in the late seventies. She had some minor film roles but first came to prominence as Soolin in the last series of  Blake's Seven  and then the titular  character in Jane. In 1983 she starred in the remake of The Wicked Lady where she famously insisted on a body double  instead of revealing her breasts. Her film  roles have been scarce since then but she  ttriumphed on TV  in  Dempsey  and  Makepeace  and  has been married to co-star  Michael Brandon since 1989. She  has  successfully transferred to character acting  in soaps with long runs in Emmerdale, EastEnders and  most recently  Hollyoaks.

Sarah Maur Thorp  ( as Susannah )

Sex : Susannah is a prostitute

Death : Survives


Sarah is a classically  trained  stage  actress who  has  made  the  occasional  foray  into screen acting. This  was  her  first  film  role. Her fourth was in The Presence of Snowgood in 2023

Briony McRoberts  ( as Anne Underwood )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Briony was  a  TV  actress  with this  being only her second and final film. She first appeared as  a  young teen in the BBC sitcom  Bachelor  Father in 1970. Her career thereafter was unspectacular, the  highlight being a run in Scottish soap Take The High Road. She  retired in 2005 and died in 2013.

Carolyn Cortez ( as Maggie )

Sex : Jekyll  exposes her breasts then masturbates her with his walking cane

Death : Jekyll slits her throat


This  was  the  most  substantial of Carolyn's three film roles.

Cathy Murphy ( as Cockney Prostitute )

Sex : She prepares for  sex with Jekyll

Death : Jekyll slits her throat


Cathy  racked  up many  screen appearances on both film and TV as  a  bit  part actress up until 1991 when she secured a decent part in The  House  of Elliott. After  that the parts  got  smaller rather than larger, often playing nurses, but she is still working.

Claudia Udy ( as Liza)

Sex : No

Death : Survives


This was Claudia's last appearance in a horror film.