As the title suggests this is from the same people who did House of Whipcord and also stars Sheila Keith but it's nowhere near as entertaining. The premise of having a crazed Catholic priest killing people with sacred implements is a good one but it's sunk by the over-ripe performance of Anthony Sharp in the main role. It's also too long, being padded out with dreary sub-plots.
Susan Penhaligon ( as Jenny Welch )
Sex : Jenny gets out of bed naked but we only see her from the back
Death : Survives
Susan was one of the decade's most personable actresses so it's a shame she's not fully utilised here being barely involved in the film's climax.
Stephanie Beacham ( as Vanessa Welch )
Sex : No
Death : Strangled with a rosary
After her recent starring roles. it's something of a surprise to see Stephanie take the secondary female role here.
Kim Butcher ( as Valerie )
Sex : No
Death : Jumps from a window
This tiny part was Kim's last screen role.
Jane Hayward ( as Nurse )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
Jane was a bit part actress who looked to have retired at the end of the eighties but has made an unexpected acting comeback in recent years
Monday, 30 April 2018
Sunday, 29 April 2018
379 The Ghoul (1975 )
While Hammer struggled to diversify , it seemed like Tyburn Films existed purely to satisfy the appetite for classic Hammer fare. This was directed by Freddie Francis and stars Peter Cushing and looks for all the world like a superior Hammer offering with good performances and a tightly wound plot.
Cushing plays a tormented ex-vicar in the 1920s who has lost his faith in India and now lives reclusively in the Fens, apparently with only an Indian servant ( Gwen Watford ) and seedy gamekeeper Tom ( John Hurt ) for company. Into his world come crashing a quartet of bright young things who soon fall foul of the house's sinister secret.
Alexandra Bastedo ( as Angela )
Sex : Tom intends to rape her but she fights him off
Death : Survives
The Brighton-born actress with a cosmopolitan background became one of the faces of the sixties with her role in The Champions. She was multi-lingual which served her well as her star started to slip in the seventies and she appeared in a number of Spanish horror films. From the eighties onwards, she was less regularly seen as she devoted much of her time to animal charities. Her last screen appearance was in Eastenders in 2008. She died of cancer in 2014 aged 67.
Veronica Carlson ( as Daphne )
Sex : No
Death : Slashed to death by Lawrence's insane son
This was Veronica's last film for 19 years.
Saturday, 28 April 2018
378 Don't Open The Door ! ( 1974 )
This is a so-so pysychological horror that suffers from a dearth of likeable characters and revealing the killer too soon. Watchable but no better than that.
Amanda Post returns to the house where her mother was murdered to look after her grandmother. A number of townsfolk with an interest in the propert harrass her but which one is the killer ?
Susan Bracken ( as Amanda Post )
Sex : The killer intimidates Amanda into masturbating for him
Death : Survives
This was Susan's only film. She is the daughter of comic actor Eddie Bracken.
Friday, 27 April 2018
377 The Devil's Rain ( 1975 )
This occult film credited famed Satanist Anton LaVey as a technical advisor so maybe he was to blame for its tedious incoherence. The film begins as if you've missed an earlier episode and never really allows you to catch up.
From what I can make out Mark Preston ( William Shatner and his wig ) and his family are hiding a book desired by a Satanic high priest Corbis ( Ernest Borgnine ) to complete some sort of ceremony. Corbis is really about 300 years old and the Prestons are descendants of people who previously crossed him. When Mark disappears his brother Tom ( Tom Skerrit ) has to take up the fight. The special effects are up to scratch and Borgnine delivers a fine performance but it's still a pile of crap.
Joan Prather ( as Julie Preston )
Sex : No
Death : Hard to say - the ending implies her body has been taken over by Corbis
Joan worked mainly on TV in the seventies and eighties . She is credited with turning John Travolta on to Scientology. She retired in the late eighties after marrying a high-flying lawyer . She was involved in a hit and run incident in 2008. She is now 67.
Erika Carlsson ( as Aaronessa Fyffe )
Sex : No
Death : Burned at the stake
Erika had a long career as a bit part actress with many of her films being produced in Mexico.
Sunday, 22 April 2018
376 Vampyres ( 1974 )
This erotic vampire film wasn't a Hammer production but it used one of their sets. There was a lot of controversy regarding its lesbian sex scenes which required the casting of a couple of glamour models, though neither of whom embarrass themselves when required to act. It's not a bad story either with a surprise ending in terms of who does and doesn't survive.
Marianne Morris ( as Fran )
Sex : Fran has repeated sex with male visitors and with Miriam
Death : Shot but returns as a vampire
As noted above Marianne acquits herself well here but it's her only lead role in a film.She made a few others in the seventies but mainly just bit parts. She is now 67.
Anulka Dziubinska ( as Miriam )
Sex : Miriam has lesbian sex with Fran and sometimes joins in with the men
Death : Shot but returns as a vampire
Anulka was of Polish descent but born in Preston and started work as a dental nurse there. She was a Miss UK finalist in 1970 then Playmate of the Month in 1973. She went on to appear in some British TV series before moving to the US where she appeared in Magnum and Falcon Crest . She was last heard of working as a florist in California in 2009. She is now 67.
Sally Faulkner ( as Harriet )
Sex : Harriet has sex with her boyfriend. She is stripped by the vampires
Death : Fran cuts her throat
Sally started working as an actress in the late sixties and has been active, mainly on British TV until very recently. She has appeared in Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Eastenders but only in short-term roles. She is now 73.
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Marianne Morris ( as Fran )
Sex : Fran has repeated sex with male visitors and with Miriam
Death : Shot but returns as a vampire
As noted above Marianne acquits herself well here but it's her only lead role in a film.She made a few others in the seventies but mainly just bit parts. She is now 67.
Anulka Dziubinska ( as Miriam )
Sex : Miriam has lesbian sex with Fran and sometimes joins in with the men
Death : Shot but returns as a vampire
Anulka was of Polish descent but born in Preston and started work as a dental nurse there. She was a Miss UK finalist in 1970 then Playmate of the Month in 1973. She went on to appear in some British TV series before moving to the US where she appeared in Magnum and Falcon Crest . She was last heard of working as a florist in California in 2009. She is now 67.
Sally Faulkner ( as Harriet )
Sex : Harriet has sex with her boyfriend. She is stripped by the vampires
Death : Fran cuts her throat
Sally started working as an actress in the late sixties and has been active, mainly on British TV until very recently. She has appeared in Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Eastenders but only in short-term roles. She is now 73.
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Saturday, 14 April 2018
375 The Thirsty Dead ( 1974 )
Although the premise qualifies as horror, this low budget US / Filipino film is pretty tame and certainly wouldn't earn more than a 12 certificate these days.
Four girls are abducted from Manila and taken to a mountain hideaway where a death cult led by Raoul ( a disembodied head in a coloured fish tank ) operates. One of them, Laura, is invited to join the elite, the other three are destined to be harvested for their blood. Laura plots to save them along with head male Baru ( John Considine ) who has fallen for her.
Jennifer Billingsley ( as Laura )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
The Brigitte Bardot-lookalike was from Hawaii and was active in low-budget films and TV in the sixties and seventies. She is now 75.
Judith McConnell ( as Claire )
Sex : Claire does an erotic dance routine
Death : Falls from a high ledge
Judith has a more substantial role here as the vamp-ish member of the quartet.
Tani Guthrie ( as Ranu )
Sex : Ranu does an erotic dance routine
Death : Survives
Tani plays the chief villain in this one.
Frederickra Meyers ( as Ann )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
Frederickra was a bit part actress active since the late fifties. This was her last acting role. She is now 68.
Chiqui da Rosa ( as Bonnie )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
This was Chiqui's only film.
Elena Sampson ( as Hala )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
This was Elena's only film.
374 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ( 1974 )
This famous video nasty was one of the most influential horror films of the decade. It was partially based on the Ed Gein case .It's unremittingly grim with little music or humour to sweeten the pill and a grimy look that makes you feel sweaty just watching it.
A group of five friends including disabled Franklin ( Paul Partain ) take their camper van down to Texas to vacation at Franklin's old family home, reaching it after a disturbing encounter with a deranged hitchhiker ( Edwin Neal ). When two of them go looking for a lake they find a dilapidated house and the horrors within.
Marilyn Burns ( as Sally Hardesty )
Sex : Sally is braless throughout the picture
Death : Survives
Marilyn was a straight actress from Pennsylvania but after this, her first major role , she was firmly pegged as a scream queen. After the mid-eighties she became less active on screen , concentrating on writing and producing children's theatre. She was happy to embrace the Chainsaw legacy and appeared in Texas Chainsaw 3D in 2013. She died of heart failure the following year aged 65.
Teri McMinn ( as Pam )
Sex : Pam looks very fetching in hotpants
Death :The film leaves Pam's eventual fate up in the air but most likely she dies of suffocation through being kept in the cooler.
Teri was a local actress who didn't make another film for 35 years. She continued as a stage actress and a leg and foot model. She too is proud of the film.She is now 66.
Friday, 13 April 2018
373 Sugar Hill ( 1974 )
This is a solid but very predictable blaxploitation revenge thriller using zombies. The fashions on display are actually the scariest thing about it.
Diana "Sugar " Hill witnesses the killing of her boyfriend by thugs working on behalf of Morgan ( Robert Quarry ). She consults a voodoo priestess ( Zara Cully ) who raises an army of zombies with which to exact Sugar's revenge.
Marki Bey ( as Sugar )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
Marki had already made her name in blaxploitation pictures and worked in TV after this one, having a semi-regular role in Starsky and Hutch. She retired at the end of the seventies and now runs murder mystery cruises in L.A. She is now 71.
Betty Anne Rees ( as Celeste )
Sex : Celeste is Morgan's mistress
Death : Taken into the netherworld by the zombies
Betty worked mainly in TV from the mid-sixties to the end of the seventies.
Judy Hanson ( as Masseuse )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
This was Judy's first acting role in a short career in the seventies.
372 Silent Night, Bloody Night ( 1974 )
This film is notable for the number of former Warhol acolytes in the cast. It starts promisingly enough with the first killings a very effective shock but then loses its way with a plot that becomes progressively more ludicrous.
Lawyer John Carter ( Patrick O'Neal ) comes to a small town in Massachusetts to sell a house on behalf of Jeffrey Butler ( James Patterson ) to a quartet of town luminaries. While waiting to meet up with Butler he decides to spend a night at the house with his mistress. Big mistake.
Mary Woronov ( as Diane Adams )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
Mary has the lead female role here but it's a poorly written part.
Astrid Heeren ( as Ingrid )
Sex : Ingrid has sex with Carter
Death : Axed to death in bed
Astrid was a German actress who made just four films in a ten year career. She is now 78.
Donelda Dunne ( as Marianne )
Sex : Marianne is raped by her father ( offscreen )
Death : Murdered by the inmates of an asylum
This was Donelda's only film.
Wednesday, 11 April 2018
371 Seizure ( 1974 )
This odd Canadian film is notable for being Oliver Stone's directorial debut. It's interesting but poorly paced with two long and talky scenes removing the tension and a very predictable ending.
Jonathan Frid the saturnine vampire from the Dark Shadows franchise plays a writer of horror novels who invites a group of friends to his house for a weekend. Unfortunately the weekend is ruined by a visit from three demonic figures from his imagination.
Martine Beswick ( as The Queen of Evil )
Sex : The Queen has sex with one of the guests before strangling him
Death : She doesn't really exist
Martine reprises her Sister Hyde persona for this one.
Christina Pickles ( as Nicole )
Sex : Nicole has sex ( mostly offscreen with her husband )
Death : Slits her wrists in the bathroom
Christina was part of the Pickles acting dynasty from Halifax though she has long been an a naturalised American citizen. She has had a long and varied career on stage and screen and is perhaps best known for her role in Friends. She is currently in the U.S. TV series Break a Hip at the age of 83.
Mary Woronov ( as Mikki Hughes )
Sex : Mikki is sleeping with another guest
Death : The Queen slits her throat
Mary was originally part of Andy Warhol's entourage in the sixties and has had something of a cult following ever since. She divides her time between painting, writing and acting these days but she is still active at 74.
Lucy Bingham ( as Betsy )
Sex : Betsy is sexually harrassed by one of the guests
Death : Killed in the woods ( offscreen )
Locy was a production assistant on this, her only film.
370 Virgin Witch ( 1972 )
This film has long since been denounced by its sibling stars as exploitative trash. It was produced by wrestling commentator Kent Walton and had problems with the censors. The story about a couple of sisters lured into a witches' coven isn't that great but the girls are gorgeous !
Ann Michelle ( as Christina )
Sex : Christina has sex with Peter the photographer, Gerald the high priest of the coven and Sybil the high priestess
Death : Survives
Ann has described the film as an experience she'd prefer to forget.
Vicki Michelle ( as Betty )
Sex : Betty loses her virginity to boyfriend Johnny
Death : Survives
Vicki was Ann's younger sister and this was one of her first acting roles. She is most famous for playing Yvette in Allo Allo. She is still a very busy actress on stage and screen. She was awarded an MBE in 2010 and has her own chat show on local radio. She is now 67.
Patricia Haines ( as Sybil )
Sex : Sybil dances naked and has lesbian sex with Christina
Death : Falls from a roof under a spell cast by Christina
Patricia began work in the late fifties by which time she was already married to Michael Caine. They divorced in 1962. Patricia worked mainly in TV with roles in many successful shows such as Compact , Up Pompeii and Emmerdale Farm. She died of lung cancer in 1977 aged 75.
Tuesday, 10 April 2018
369 Madhouse ( 1974 )
This co-production between Amicus and AIP brought together Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry and is another meta-concept with Price playing a horror actor returning to the fray as Dr Death after a spell away following the murder of his fiance. The movie incorporates footage from Price's previous films featuring Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff plus a cameo from Michael Parkinson. The film isn't as clever as it thinks it is and merely emphasises that Price was past his prime.
Adrienne Corri ( as Fay Flay )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
This was Adrienne's last horror role.
Natasha Pyne ( as Julia Wilson )
Sex : No
Death : Has her throat slit
Natasha was from Sussex and started acting in the early sixties. She had recently finished a regular role in the popular sitcom Father Dear Father and appeared in the film version. After the mid-seventies she worked mainly in TV retiring in the early noughties. She is now 71.
Linda Hayden ( as Elizabeth Peters )
Sex : No
Death : Killed with a pitchfork
Linda plays a stereotypical Hollywood hustler in this one.
Jenny Lee-Wright ( as Carol Clayton )
Sex : No
Death : Hanged with her own hair
Jenny was a Londoner who started out as a dancer before going into acting. She normally appeared in TV comedy including the final series of Mind Your Language. In the late eighties she switched to becoming a foley artist ( creator of sound effects ) and was working in that capacity until very recently .
Julie Crosthwaite ( as Ellen Mason )
Sex : No
Death : Beheaded
Julie was from Cheltenham and worked mainly on TV in a short career in the seventies.
Monday, 9 April 2018
368 The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires ( 1974 )
Christopher Lee declined to reprise his role as Dracula in this Hammer genre-bender and one can see why as Dracula is utterly superfluous to the plot. Hammer got together with the Shaw Brothers of Hong Kong to produce a hybrid movie, something like The Seven Samurai with supernatural trappings. Peter Cushing did agree to play Van Helsing , accompanying seven Chinese brothers ( and their ass-kicking sister ) on an expedition to free a village from the vampire threat.
Jessica Ege ( as Vanessa Buren )
Sex : Vanessa's top gets transparent in the later stages of the film
Death : Staked as a vampire
Julie was a Norwegian model who appeared in Penthouse and broke into films in the late sixties. She made her biggest impression as Voluptua in Up Pompeii and generally did comedy rather than horror films. She gave up acting in the eighties and became a nurse instead. She died of breast cancer in 2004 aged 64.
Shih Szu ( as Mai Kwei )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
Shih was a Taiwanese actress and a regular performer in the Shaw Brothers' martial arts movies. Her profile faded in the early eighties and she returned to Taiwan. She retired around 1988. She is now 64.
Friday, 6 April 2018
367 House of Whipcord ( 1974 )
With the opening sarcastic dedication to the hang'em and flog'em brigade , a character called Mark E Desad and the casting of a familiar TV dollybird, this doesn't seem like it want it wants you to take it very seriously but then it's played so straight it does work as a horror film after all.
Ann Marie DeVernet is a naive French model who gets chatted up by a suave stranger Mark ( Robert Tayman ) who invites her to his place in the country to meet his Mom. His Mom turns out to be Mrs Wakehurst ( Barbara Markham ) a dismissed prison governor and home is a former prison where she, two warders ( Sheila Keith and Dorothy Gordon) and a senile old magistrate ( Patrick Barr ) run a private institution kidnapping young women who've had a lenient sentence and giving them what they really deserve.
Penny Irving ( as Anne Marie DeVernet )
Sex: Anne Marie's crime is nude modelling and we see plenty of her body in the film
Death : Hanged ( offscreen ) for trying to escape
This was one of Penny's first roles. She soon switched to comedy and is best remembered as Mr Grace's secretary in Are You Being Served ? and an original Yellowcoat in Hi-de-Hi. That was her final acting role. She is now 62.
Ann Michelle ( as Julia )
Sex : Julia has sex with her married boyfriend
Death : Survives
Ann is the sister of Allo Allo actress Vicki Michelle and they appeared together in the film Virgin Witch . She gave up acting in the early nineties but made a one-off comeback in a 2006 TV movie. She is now 65.
Karan David ( as Karen Burke )
Sex : No
Death : Hanged for stealing food
Karan had her first role in the TV series The Lotus Eaters but is perhaps best remembered for playing Asian nurse Sita Patel in Angels. She retired in the early nineties. She was married to comedian Roger Kitter until his death in 2006.
Celia Quicke ( as Denise )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
This was Celia's only film role. She is now 71.
Judy Robinson ( as Claire )
Sex : She is stripped naked for whipping
Death : Survives
Judy started out as a child actress in the fifties. This was her only film until Even Cowgirls Get The Blues in 1993. That was her last acting role.
Celia Imrie ( as Barbara )
Sex : No
Death : Survives
I'm sure the always in demand actress puts this one near the top of her c.v. It was only her second film role and blink and you'll miss her. Celia is now 65 and still going strong.
366 The House That Vanished ( 1974 )
This is another little known British chiller that's also gone by the name of Scream and Die. It scores on atmosphere and a high breast and bum count but falls short on narrative coherence with the heroine seemingly unsure whether or not she's traumatised from one scene to the next.
London model Valerie accompanies her boyfriend Terry ( Alex Leppard ) on a botched burglary. When disturbed by a noise, they are somehow separated and Valerie witnesses the murder of a woman by a silent man.Valerie escapes the house but subsequent events suggest the murderer knows who she is. Despite that, she gets on with life and starts dating Paul ( Karl Lanchbury ) an effeminate man who makes masks.
Andrea Allan ( as Valerie Jennings )
Sex : Valerie has sex with Paul
Death : Survives
Andrea was an actress from Glasgow active since the mid-sixties. Shortly after this film she became a glamour model for real, appearing in both Penthouse and Playboy. After that she changed her name to Elle Reece-Knight but got little work and gave up acting in the late eighties. She is now 71.
Maggie Walker ( as Aunt Susanna )
Sex : Susanna has sex with her nephew Paul
Death : Stabbed by Paul
Not much is known about Maggie who's clearly a mature woman in this but has no credits before 1972. She disappears after 1975.
Judy Matheson ( as Lorna Collins )
Sex : Lorna is raped before being killed
Death : Strangled by Paul
This was Judy's last horror outing.
Annabella Wood ( as Stella )
Sex : Stella has a rather brave cuddle with a real monkey whilst naked
Death : Survives ( the wikipedia entry for the film currently states that Valerie finds her body in the closet but I think it's the original victim ).
This was the final film of Annabella's brief acting career
Barbara Meale ( as Victim 1 )
Sex : She undresses for sex with Paul
Death : Stabbed with a dagger
Barbara was a bit part actress with just three screen credits.
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