Monday, 22 September 2025

797 Two Evil Eyes ( 1991)

 This was a joint effort by George Romero and Dario Argento with  each one filming a segment inspired by Edgar Allen  Poe. Romero goes first with The Facts In The Case of  M. Valdemar starring Adrienne Barbeau as a soon-to-be-widow whose lover is  hypnotising her dying husband into arranging his affairs to benefit them. When he dies too soon they put him in the freezer but of course he doesn't lie still. Despite the modern setting it's old-fashoned and a bit too predictable. Argento's narrative The Black Cat is grislier and more  inventive though a little rushed in places and the ending is very contrived. Harvey Keitel plays a cynical photographer jealous of his young girlfriend's affection for her cat, a resentment  that  spills into violence and worse. It's the more  gripping of the two when you're not distracted by the lousy effects when the cat goes into action.

Madeleine Potter ( as Annabel)

Sex : Annabel is having an affair with one of her students

Death : Hit with a meat cleaver


Madeleine made her film debut in a Merchant-Ivory production The  Bostonians and has made three other films with them. Though born in America, she has been based in Britain since the mid-nineties dividing her time between stage, TV and voice work.

Julie Benz ( as Betty )

Sex : No

Death : Survives 


This  was  19-year old Julie's film debut, possibly owing to being a native of Pittsburgh where it was filmed. She is the daughter of a doctor and a figure skater. She was hoping to be a skater herself but injury diverted her into acting. In 1996 she auditioned for the main role in Buffy The Vampre Slayer   . She didn't getit but was compensated by the supporting role of Darla which made her name. Julie is a big star on TV  which rather overshadows her film work.

Lanene Chanters (as Bonnie)

Sex : No

Death : Survives


This was Lanene's only screen appearance. 



Saturday, 20 September 2025

796 Body Parts (1991 )

 This  body horror  film has  a  completely  ludicrous premise and  the last thirty mintes or so don't make a great deal of sense  but  the  impressive  cast take it seriously  and  it  is  pretty good gory fun, A serial killer has his execution method switched from the electric chair to dismemberment in an operating theatre - which seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me -so Dr Webb ( Lindsay Duncan)  can give his limbs to patients such as  psychiatrist Bill Crushank  (Jeff Fahey) , When  the arm seems to have a mind of its own, Bill tracks down the other recipients  including an unusually sympathetic Brad Dourif.

Kim Delaney ( as Karen )

Sex : Karen has sex with Bill

Death : Survives


Kim  was  born in Philadelphia  and was  a  very  successful teen model before  breaking  into acting  on TV in 1981 on All My Children . Although she has  appeared  sporadically in films, she is  primarily a TV actress winning an Emmy Award for NYPD Blue. She  is  still active, seen most  recently in Chicago Fire.

Sarah Campbell  ( as Samantha )

Sex : N/a

Death : Survives


This  was Sarah's first film role. She managed to keep her career going, mainly on TV up to the mid-90s and has made one or  two  appearances  s  an extra since.

Saturday, 9 August 2025

795 Bride Of Reanimator ( 1991 )

 This  sequel  to the 1985 film reunites most of the key cast but it's  shockingly bad; it's no surprise it went straight to video. In  its gore and special effects, it outdoes the previous film in sheer volume  but  if  you're looking for a coherent plot  or  even consistency of motivation  - Dan  Cain (Bruce Abott in particular -, this is the wrong film for you. There  are  still one or two good jokes here and there but  it's not worth wading through the manure to find them.

Fabiana Udenio ( as Francseca )

Sex : Francesca has sex with Dan then is repeatedly assaulted by the zombiefied cop

Death : Survives


Fabiana was born in Argentina ut raised in Italy where she became a teen model. She made her film debut in a German picture in 1978 but moved to the US in the eighties. She has regularly worked in TV and  is  currently  in  the  series FUBAR.

Kathleen Kinmont ( as Gloria )

Sex : Glora is stripped for resuscitation

Death : Gloria dies of an unspecified terminal illness


Kathleen was cast after Barbara Crampton declined to return although she plays a different character.


794 Silence Of The Lambs (1991 )

 This  is  one  of  the  most  seminal films  of  the  nineties , winning "the Big Five" Oscars ( the most  recent  film to  do  so ) and rehabilitating  the  horror genre singlehandedly.  A promising young FBI agent is assigned to visit a  hyper-intelligent  psychiatrist turned serial cannibal, Hannibal Lecter ( Anthony Hopkins ) in the  hope  of  eliciting insights into the mind  of  a  still-at-large serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. Lecter agrees to  help if she'll  divulge some personal secrets.to  him. The  film is stylish and  gripping with  a pervading sense of dread  compensating for  the limited amount of actual gore. The deductive logic gets a bit bumpy towards the end but otherwise it's near-perfect.

Jodie  Foster ( as Clarice Starling )

Sex : Clarice gets semen thrown in her face by Lecter's cellmate

Death : Survives


Jodie made her first appearance in a commercial at the age of three and soon joined the Disney stable. She was the premier child actress in the seventies ; in the second half of which she started appearing in provocative roles  in films like The  Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane and Taxi Driver. Shortly after starting university at Yale, she atracted unwelcome publicity when her stalker tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan  in 1981 and for the next few years she was box office poison. Her career spectacularly revived in 1988 with an Oscar for her role in The Accused and  this  film brought her another one. She  has had  successes and  failures  since, with forays into producing and directing , but remains an A-lister.

Kasi Lemmons ( as Ardelia )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Kassii was born in Missouri and started acting on TV in the late eighties. She made her first film appearance in Spike Lee's School Daze. She  harboured directing ambitions,  got her first chance with Eve's Bayou in 1997 and has made few onscreen appearances since. Her work as a director has been showered with woke-y awards but she has yet to score at the box office.

Brooke Smith ( as Catherine )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Brooke was  from  New York , the  daughter of  a  Hollywood publicist  and  this  was  her  third  film. This  remains  her  most  high profile  role but  she  has  worked steadily in film and TV ever since.

Lauren Roselli ( as Staci)

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Lauren was the keyboard player in the band Book Of Love . This was the first of four films in which Jonathan Demme cast her. her only screen credits.










Thursday, 7 August 2025

793 Popcorn (1991 )

 This  postmodern slasher spoof isn't nearly as clever as it thinks it is  with its  films-within-a film  structure and numerous  references to other movies.  A group of film students  and their tutors stage a horrorthon using old 50s  B-movies  at a condemned cinema where a gruesome tragedy once played out  and of course there's a hideously deformed survivor out  for  revenge. Even given it's a spoof ,you expect  some internal logic and avoidance of plotholes - the reggae band that can play during a powercut is a classic - and  I  don't  think  the  heavy  dose of Talking Killer Syndrome is  deliberate.

Jill  Schoelen ( as Maggie/Sarah)

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Jill's straight-faced  conviction in the leading  role keeps  the  film  afloat.

Freddie Marie Simpson ( as Tina )

Sex : Tina is having an affair with her tutor

Death : Killed by the maniac offscreen, means unknown


Freddie made only two films in a very brief career in the early nineties

Kelly Jo Minter ( as Cheryl )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Kelly Jo only has a small role in this one.

Ivette Solar ( as Joanie )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Ivette was a bit part actress active in the first half of the nineties.

Karen Witter ( as Joy )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Karen  was both a  medical student and a Playboy model before going into acting. She  was  mainly  a  TV actress with a two year run in One Life To Live  and bit parts in films although she was the female lead in 1989's Buried Alive. She seems to have retired now.



Tuesday, 5 August 2025

792 Warlock (1991)

 There aren''t too many original ideas in  this  film about a time-travelling warlock from the 17th Century ( the dreaded Julian Sands )  pursued by a vengeful hunter ( Richard E Grant ) with the aid of a modern-day plucky  heroine. There are distinct echoes of The Terminator , Highlander,  and Time After Time to  name a few. There are effective moments but mostly  this is too silly to be  enjoyable with  Sands as wooden as ever and  Grant  seemingly making up the plot as he goes along in a dodgy ( and completely  unnecessary) Scottish  accent.

Lori Singer ( as Kassandra)

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Lori was born in Texas into a musical family and she herself became  a  musical prodigy  as  a solo cellist at 13. She went to a prestigious music school  but  then moved  into modelling and then acting, inspired by her brother Marc ( best known for V). She got a good part in the TV series Fame which was written around her talents then made her fim debut in Footloose. After Short Cuts in 1993, her film career waned and she has moved into  producing documentaries  with some success.

Nancy Fox ( as Boy's mother )

Sex : No

Death : Survives


Nancy is  another Texan who made an impact as a teenager in the  early  seventies in the medical comedy Temperatures Rising. Thereafter, she worked steadily in TV and  on stage but only made two films. She is still active.

Anna Levine ( as  Pastor's wife )

Sex : Warlock feels her up and determines she is pregnant

Death :  Uncertain


Anna  was born in New  York and came  up  the  hard  way with bit parts in many eighties films  before  starting to get  meatier  roles in the nineties by  which time she was known as Anna Thomson. These included The Unforgiven, True Romance and The Crow.She seems  to have retired after 2012.

Monday, 4 August 2025

791 Predator 2 ( 1990 )

 I  remember switching  this  film off when it was  first televised in the mid-nineties and it  hasn't improved with age Schwarzenegger  declined to return and instead you have Danny Glover as a cop trying to deal with the chaos as the  alien warrior  starts wiping out drug gangs  like a dreadlocked Charles  Bronson. Indeed, in its mindless violence and wafer-thin narrative and characterisation, this has far more in common with the Death Wish sequels than the original Predator.  Though up to the role physically, Glover  is no leading man and Gary Busey phones in his performance as the shady man government man- who  - guess what - wants to use the alien for miliatary purposes.

Maria Conchita Alonso ( as  Leona  Cantrell)

Sex : Leona is pregnant

Death : Survives 


Maria was born in Cuba  but went into exile with her parents in 1962  and has remained a staunch Republican.  She  first  worked as a model in Venezuela ,making the final seven in the Miss World contest in 1975.  She worked extensively in Venezuelan TV in the early eighties but moved to the US in 1982 to further her career. She peaked in the late  eighties with The Running Man and Colors  then  her  film career stalled somewhat. perhaps due to her political views, and she was seen more on TV. She is still very active and has a parallel career as a singer in the Spanish language market.

Teri Weigel ( as Mary)

Sex :  Mary is having vigorous sex with  a drug lord when a rival gang interrupt them

Death : Presumed to survive


Teri was a former Playboy  centrefold who made decorative appearances in a few  mainstream films and the TV series Married...With Children  before  moving into porn films  from which she has now presumably  reired.