Gothic Horror Is Not Dead, It Is Unborn
350293
"They shall have a bed of hell-fire
  ... thus do we reward the unjust"

This is one of the finest horror films
I have seen in a long time.
It is terrifying and heartbreaking.

The musical score and cinematography are brilliant.
The use of color, and shadow are masterful.
The acting is excellent.

The tension is so great that the quite tame
scary parts are nearly unbearable.

Some of the imagery is horrific.
[spoiler]
(ex: the now 3 year old spirit-girl
dragging a bloody fetus
through a nether-worldly cemetery
and singing a song of how her mother
once loved her, then tossing
the bloody fetus on a pile of dirt!!!)

I know that I am experiencing a great horror film
when I need to take a rest period at some point
and then return to it.
I did that with "The Exorcist" and "Suspiria"
and I had to do that with this film.

Unfortunately, like so many horror films,
the ending seems like an afterthought.
Very disappointing.
I wish the film makers put as much thought
and creativity into the ending as they had
the rest of the film.

This film will get neither the recognition,
nor the distribution it deserves given
the theme and the politics of abortion
in the mainstream film industry.
Too bad.
Thank you to Pathfinder Pictures
for making this film available on DVD.

This is a must-see not-to-be-missed film
for the fan of gothic horror.

[note bene: dialog is in Turkish with subtitles]
3330424
I really enjoyed this film. The ambiance was eerie and beautifully crafted.
The acting was well done and subtle. So nice for a change to embrace the silence
of a space and let that be a force unto itself. Loved that choice by the director in
this day of sound tracks over running a film.
This is a marvelous gothic tale. Loved it!
4272957
A magnificent collection of short gothic horror. One thing I don't understand though is why Amazon asked to check off the amounts of  "violence and sex". It's GOTHIC HORROR !!!~ Since when did violence or sex become an issue in this genre? Anyone that is offended by sex or violence shouldn't be reading horror, or even any book written for an adult. I would say go read the fiction of  Dr. Seuss or the fictitious religious books. They are more make-believe than anything you'll find here!
3658332
Dressed like a vagrant musician, the old campaigner approaches the castle of Don Isidor de Haro for a free meal. Or so it seems. What he's actually in search of is a missing nephew, daughter and grandson - and his long lost honors and distinctions. At the very least, he seeks revenge for the wrongs done him and his family.

He's the Baron de Rayo, not dead as everyone thought. Luckily don Isidor is alive as well - his long lost other nephew. The Baron, his nephew, his nephew's son and the good father Thomas will form a congenial medieval investigative team to uncover the secrets behind the mysterious downfall of the house of Rayo.

Are there women in the tale? Yes, but mostly locked up. Other Gothic elements include murder, incest, intrigue, dire prophesies, hidden stairways, subterranean passageways, lustful nobles, false friends and a purposeful ghost.

The Haunted Priory appeared in 1794, scorned by the critics but devoured by the reading public - and in for a long run at the circulating libraries.

I'm afraid I enjoyed the book as much as any late eighteenth-century reader in search of thrills and chills. Stephen Cullin makes good use of tried and true Gothic themes and devices. His characters are appealing, his writing style clear and engaging - and events move right along. The setting is quite original. According to the introduction, this may be the first Gothic novel set in Spain.

The excellent introduction, which I read last, beautifully justified my enjoyment of The Haunted Priory. So what if the author makes use of recycled Gothic paraphernalia! As the editor points out, imitative activity of this sort kept the genre alive - and gave the literary marketplace what it craved.

I had fun reading The Haunted Priority and recommend it to fans and students of the Gothic.
551979
MONSTER MADNESS: THE GOTHIC REVIVAL OF HORROR opens w/ the coming of HAMMER studios, and their resurrection of classic monsters such as DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN'S MONSTER, THE WOLFMAN, and THE MUMMY. In color! HAMMER also offered more bright red blood, and more female flesh. The Quatermass films and X THE UNKNOWN are also discussed. Beginning w/ CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, the revival was on, introducing future icons, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing! Includes great interviews w/ Lee, Cushing, Jimmy Sangster, Freddie Francis, Veronica Carlson, Ingrid Pitt, etc. Excellent trailers and clips from THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN, X THE UNKNOWN, and the gothic horror films. Lee and Cushing are given their proper due as legends on par w/ Karloff and Lugosi. Other stars, like Oliver Reed (CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF) are shown as well. HAMMER's psychological thrillers are examined. TIGON and AMICUS studios, and their horror anthology films, especially DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS and TALES FROM THE CRYPT are mentioned. The 1960's and 70's brought more violence, and even more flesh, including nudity. Ingrid Pitt makes her mark in THE VAMPIRE LOVERS! Censorship boards make their cuts. Movies like DR. JEKYL AND SISTER HYDE, HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN, and THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA show the last days of HAMMER's incredible run. This third installment in the MONSTER MADNESS documentary series is as well-made, informative, and entertaining as the others. Highly recommended...
2120907
Recent converts to the skills of fan-favorite director Guillermo Del Toro may swoon at the blockbuster spectacle of a film like Pacific Rim which taps into every corner of the geek brain, but others know a good scare is what tickles his fancy. Del Toro's fascination with the Gothic stretches back a ways, and he embraces that adoration fully with the lavish, ostentatious horror Crimson Peak, a film of such bloody good fun it could bring the rarely-used genre back to life.

More of a decadent haunted house story than a ghost story, Crimson Peak is a melodramatic, Victorian wonder teasing dangerous romances, hidden secrets, and of course, murder. While these elements are always tantalizingly on the surface, Del Toro transfixes us with rich, baroque images. He's spared no expense in making this his most beautiful film from top to bottom; from the gorgeous cast to the titular bleeding red mansion that serves as the story's most unforgettable character.

Mia Wasikowska, who has never met a gothic heroine role she didn't like (she was amazing in Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre), plays Edith Cushing, an aspiring novelist who we see as a child encountering the ghostly presence of her deceased mother. The apparition's warming to "Beware Crimson Peak" lingers on her mind into adulthood, when she remains under the watchful eye of her wealthy industrialist father (Jim Beaver). But neither he nor Edith's stalwart admirer Alan (Charlie Hunnam) are a match for the chivalrous and enigmatic baronet, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston), who quickly sweeps her off her feet. A violent, gruesome murder drives Edith further into Sharpe's arms, and soon they are married and flying off to his ancestral home. That she knows practically nothing about Thomas is, of course, obvious to us, but Edith knows even less about his icy, possessive sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain) who lords over the mansion like a mad sentinel.

The house is the film's glorious centerpiece, a ruined, disheveled Hogwarts with falling leaves from the rotted roof and red sludge oozing through the floorboards like blood from a gaping wound. As Edith explores her creaky new domicile we too are introduced to its every terrifying nook, captured in exacting detail from the fluttering array of moths to the crimson ectoplasmic ghosts that stalk its halls. It wouldn't be a surprise if Del Toro and co-writer Matthew Robbins were paying homage to the classic Hammer horrors of years past, and the film certainly captures that grotesquely over-the-top spirit that borders on camp.

Del Toro isn't looking to reinvent the wheel here; there's no attempt to hide any of the dangers that threaten poor Edith, but that's what is so enjoyable about it. It allows a certain level of freedom for the immensely talented cast, especially Chastain who projects scorn and disapproval like no other. Wasikowska and Hiddleston are both somewhat restrained, and their characters' romance is never given enough time to fully develop before the evil shenanigans begin. She largely plays to her well-practiced strengths, capturing Edith's innocence and fierce resolve, while Hiddleston is an indecisive rogue with a heart of tarnished gold.

Crimson Peak is, in a way, like the culmination of everything Del Toro has done before, embracing his blockbuster tendencies with the frightful horrors he loved growing up. While there aren't a ton of scares, Del Toro knows how to send a good chill up the spine. His creepier films have always been far and away better than his action-heavy efforts, and hopefully Crimson Peak will inspire Del Toro to tap into this side more often.
2074875
Wow--is this novel for real?  It reads like a 20's silent movie, yet it hooks you, capturing your imagination right from the
start.  You may think you know the story from the 90's musical and various movie versions, but you can't  really Know it until you read the original.  This is the French contribution to the Gothic Novels of the late 19th century: Bram Stoker's Dracula, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and R.L. Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Hr. Hyde--the British triumvirate of Horror.
  PHANTOM represents the epitome of Theatre of the macabre; in fact this story is actually set inside a theater--the Paris Opera. But
this particular opera house is haunted by the self-proclaimed Opera Ghost, whose reign of terror exceeds mere parlor tricks.  His talents incude abduction, dispassionate but brutal murder,
and extortion--both financial and entrepreneurial. The Directors
are his frustrated pawns, but no one is safe from his vile, utterly selfish schemes.
  Since the story is so well known, I will not recapitulate the plot--just recreate the below-the-stage setting. We gradually glimpse a subterranean kingdom ruled by a vicious madman, who skulks in darkness because his face is so horribly disfigured that mankind shuns his presence.  Those unfortunate individuals who happen to catch a glimpse of him refer to a Death's Head; indeed his favorite costume is from
Poe's "Mask of the Red Death."  Of course we have the beautiful but typically helpless young heroine, Christine, the Swedish singer whose career he has taken into his gloved hand.  The triangle is completed by the ardent but reckless Count de Chagny, who has loved her since childhood.  Luckily for the couple they acquire a curious ally known only as the Persian, who relates the amoral history of the masked madman below-boards.
 I found Leroux's literary style confusing, however, since he takes great and frequent liberties with time.  He alernates writing in the 3rd person (as the omnisicent narrator) and the first person--with Two different characters telling their own stories.  (We need a scorecord to distinguish between the two I's.) In addition the prologue and epiloque to the 26 chapters are written by Leroux's amateur detective, Rouletabille, who outwits both criminals and the Paris police by the use of brilliant, Holmesian deduction. Leroux neatly ties up most of the loose threads for us, but we do wonder how the Phantom accomplishes all those fascinating sleight-of-hand tricks which baffle the Directors.  Only the Persian fully understands his evil past; only sweet Christine finds compassion for the phantom; only Raoul risks all to save his beloved. Beware if you venture into his realm beneath the opera house, for you enter a grim and dangerous dommain; to step into the phantom's territory is to challenge his will and endanger your life and poissibly your sanity.  Timeless Horror which will ensnare you.
3835163
Sebastian Gregory has a fine track record as a writer of scary tales. His&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Asylum-for-Fairy-tale-Creatures/dp/B00KYU49TO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Asylum for Fairy-tale Creatures</a>&nbsp;is a reworking of some old Grimm tales and familiar fairy tale characters and is clever, gruesome, elegant, violent and unsettling.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Boy-in-the-Cemetery/dp/B00O28MHSY/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Boy in the Cemetery</a>&nbsp;is a children-in-peril ghost story with a number of gripping scenes and a dark undercurrent. This offering is a bit lighter, but it is not a jokey ghosty holiday-themed lark. The prologue alone, which opens the story by describing the abduction and disappearance of a little girl on Christmas Eve in 1514 is dark and dreadful.

In short, this isn't David Lubar Campfire Weenies material or even R.L. Stine "Goosebumps" kiddy thrills. This is effective, dark and unsettling. For what it's worth, I would suggest reading the sample that is available on the Amazon site. It stops short of the abduction but is loaded with enough creepy, dark, unnerving atmosphere that you'll get a sense of the author's style.

And this author has style to burn. There is no plodding, by-the-numbers story telling or predictable plotting. This is carefully made, slow building, tension filled, dark story telling with a palpable underlying sense of menace and dread. Children alone, threatened by a dark unknown evil creature, battling to survive - that's what you get here. There are no comic figures or humorous distractions. The characters are well-defined; the reader becomes invested in their welfare and then lurches along with them from peril to peril.

At least for me, and not to sound like a bluenose, this is a tough book to figure in terms of the appropriate reader age. There's no sex, torture, gore or that sort of thing. But there's no let up on or relief from the dark dread that grows throughout the story. The writing is sophisticated and there are a lot of small observations, throw-away lines, and bits of dialogue that are sharp and finely tuned. There is no silliness - no zombie hamsters or ghostly pratfalls. This is an old fashioned, efficient, moody, scary story. That's a good and rare accomplishment as long as you go into it with your eyes open, (or maybe with your eyes tightly closed).

Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
2734864
"The Oblong Box"/"Scream and Scream Again" is an excellent pair of Vincent Price horror fare from MGM.  Price is in top form and, in both movies, he stars with horror icon, Christopher Lee, who is most notable for his Dracula role in the Hammer productions.  Unfortunately, however, they only share one scene in each film.

  "The Oblong Box," based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, is gothic horror sent in 1865 and is the best of the pair.  This is the tale of the two Markham brothers who own an African plantation.  A native boy is seriously disfigured in a riding accident.  The tribal voodoo witch doctor curses Edgar Markham with a disfiguring illness that drives him insane.  Upon returning to England, Julian (played by Price) keeps his brother Edgar locked in the attic.  Edgar escapes by feigning death and is buried alive.  His co-conspirators betray him and do not dig up his grave.  Meanwhile, Lee is an evil doctor who needs fresh bodies for his experiments.  His ghouls dig up Edgar's grave.  Donning, a red hood, Edgar begins killing those who betrayed him.

  "The Oblong Box" is a good slasher film and a good mystery for those who love gothic horror.  The plot is intricate, the acting is good, and the throat slashings are graphic and gory.

  "Scream and Scream Again" is another high body count horror film set in the "groovy" sixties.  A new political Communist-like party has taken over England; they utilize strong, ruthless mad men who are robots (i.e., composites) to carry out their evil plans.  Price is a government funded scientist who created the composites.  Lee is a politician who wants to cover up Price's projects because one of his earlier experiments has been murdering beautiful young women and draining them of blood like a vampire.

  The plot for "Scream and Scream Again" is very complex, almost too complex, and it has too many villains.  There is never a dull moment as the bodies begin piling high.  Three horror icons star in this movie.  One of them, Peter Cushing, has a cameo.  Christopher Lee is underused .  The lead character appears to be the young medical examiner who performs the autopsies on the "vampire" victims; he investigates Price.  The ending was a little disappointing, almost contrived as if the writers were struggling about how to wrap it up.

  This movie double feature is a must have for fans of gothic slashers, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee.  Neither feature has any extras except for the trailers.
2462986
I had no idea what to expect from this one, but it turned out to be Italy's response to the Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe films, and it's actually pretty good.

In late 19th century northern France, lovely Emily De Blancheville returns to her ancestral home from finishing school to find that her brother has sacked the entire staff and all the new servants are creepy. Worse yet, her father - whom she had believed to be killed in a fire - is actually alive but hideously burned and criminally insane, and locked up in the tower. Her brother explains that there is a curse on the De Blancheville line, and their father believes that the curse can only be broken if Emily dies before her 21st birthday, which is coming up so close that they've already got the castle bedecked with festive balloons. Well, to make 89 minutes short, the father escapes and pretty soon Emily is in for a bad time of it.

What I liked about this film: It's produced by "Llama Films", which has to make a person smile. The leading ladies are all lovely, and Emily's little peekaboo nightie is extremely flattering (yeah, yeah, I know, men are pigs. Oink, oink). The location and sets are amazing, with real castles and genuine ruins (it's so cold, even indoors, that you can constantly see the actors' breath). The monster's makeup seems to be some kind of Kharis mask, Italian style. The dialog is priceless, if a tad wordy ("You will follow me, Emily. To your tomb. To your death. To die. To die. To die. To die"). Have I mentioned it was produced by Llama Films? Oh, and the brother ("Roderick", what else) is played by a guy who looks like Vincent Price. At least, in the context of this film. There are a lot of other shenanigans, with a doctor who is not what he appears, a housekeeper who is exactly what she appears, a premature burial, et al, but I don't like to give away too much of the plot. Sometimes, you have to just let the film run its course and try not to think about what it all means for months, or even years.

THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER DVD from Alpha Video is a soft print, unletterboxed but seemingly complete. The film was shot in B&W, so don't think you're missing any color here.
1077431
I read this on Kindle, but the 130 page count mentioned seems high to me. In any case, I enjoyed this good short read. As others have mentioned, this is Gothic horror, with the creepiness escalating during the story, and it reaches a short rather abrupt climax. The emphasis is on dread and creepy and desperation, not really on details of how our heroes will get out of the situation, and definitely not on gore. I bought it for 99 cents and read it in about an hour, and it was well worth it!
710414
Yes, we're a visual society, and that visceral craving for lewd, crude visuals has spilled over into horror writing.  So the genre writers have responded in kind by giving their readers bloodlettings that start on the first page and compound in succeeding pages with ever-more doses of gratuitous violence and graphic gore and prurient dysfunction.  In other words, we in the audience are given hundreds of pages of gross-out festivals.  In another word, here is what makes Brian Keene's DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN such a satisfying horror read:  Moderation.

Instead of a bloodletting, Keene gives his readers a story--a story about a small town in Virginia waking up to an inexplicable veil of darkness cutting the community off from the rest of the world.  Nothing works:  there's no power, no cell phones, no Internet, no TV, no radio; those who dare to venture into the absolute darkness on the edge of town are never seen again--those who merely go to where it begins see all sorts of gruesome manifestations, or they see long lost loved ones trying to lure them inside.  The darkness is maniacal, evil, and it's influencing the behaviour of the citizens in the town--compelling them to do unspeakable things to one another.  Told from the point of view of Robbie, a free-spirited pizza delivery driver, the reader sees through his eyes the implosion of the human condition.

So instead of relentless gore Keene tells an edge-of-your-seat story about a town besieged by evil incarnate.  Sure, there is gore, but in amounts to enhance--not overwhelm--the story.  The ending is sufficiently and satisfyingly open-ended.  DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN is a grand horror read.  Enthusiastically recommended.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning
4256262
The simple fact is that this kind of film is a specialized taste.  Imagine an old Universal horror film with the budget ramped way down and the Gothicism ramped way, way up.
It's like an extravagantly rich cheesecake, not everybody appreciates a flavor so strong and cloying.  You have to love thick gothic atmosphere, stagey black & white cinematography lingering long on a dark castle full of dust, suits of armor, strange sounds and...something else.  Much of the film's first half hour is devoted to the protagonist simply & silently exploring the castle by torchlight.  There are other things here to enjoy, a ripely macabre plot and the eerie beauty of Barbara Steele, but this film is for those who relish lush Gothicism for its own sake.  And you know who you are.
1879148
Following in the tradition of Poe and Lovecraft before him, Brunicardi's Outside Lands is a series of unfolding contemporary Gothic tales, mysteriously detailing grim afflictions of both body and mind.  From the start you can tell that something is not quite right.  Set in California's Bay Area, which is typically know for its natural beauty, his stories fathom the darker depths of foggy beaches, ghost towns, mountain streams and shade pulled bedrooms.  The style and pace of Brunicardi's writting is tense and driven. This not only propels this collection of short stories, but carries and compels the reader to go down these tormented paths where the morbid lurks. These stories are not for those seeking defined answers or resolution, but rather for those who enjoy the excitement and sublime horror of looking over the edge of the abyss.
249189
Ms. Hill aptly captures the mood and presence of the Gothic style.  The story is compelling and well-told--a hauntingly fun read.
622092
This book has convinced me that I need to create a new bookshelf: horror-romance. I haven't watched a true horror film since I watched The Exorcist by myself in the basement when I was a teen. Thankfully, I find reading horror slightly less scary. I think it is because there is no creepy music or shrill screaming upping the ante. The gore is still described but somehow seems less....oozy in print than picture. Veiled, by Karina Halle, is a demon-seeking-human type of terror that is tremendously high on the fright factor, but it also contains probably one of the hottest love scenes I've read all year. All I had to hear was, "You gorgeous girl," at just that moment in Jay's Irish brogue and I was sunk for this book.

Ada Palomino is the lead character. She is the younger sister of Perry Palomino, a main character in a slew of other Halle novels in the Experiment in Terror series. I haven't read those books, but there is a link and Ada's story is a spoiler for how that nine-book series ends. I was fine with how this was handled, but be forewarned. Ada is 18, coasting through the summer before college, publicly blogging about fashion, but privately barely hanging onto her mental health in the aftermath of the Experiment in Terror events. Things start going bump in the night, and Ada's hold on her psyche becomes even more tenuous. She is this interesting character transitioning from teen to adult because circumstances of life have forced her to, regardless of whether she is really ready or not. Luckily, the slang (twatwaffle?) and other new adult paraphernalia fall by the wayside as the horror envelops the plot. Ada is no child.

This novel managed to push all the right buttons for the kinds of things I find scariest. Demons are probably the most terrifying because they have such presence in Judeo-Christian religion and are directly sourced from the Bible. Halle immerses you in the horror version of this, complete with the Demon Legion attacking in multiple, disgusting ways. They want Ada, and are devious and determined to get her.

Her guide is a stranger in person but familiar in her dreams. Hunky Jay is a big brute of a red-head, with beautiful blue eyes. He is enigmatic and unconventional, especially for the hero figure of a paranormal book. He is there when she needs him....sometimes. The confusion about Jay is part of what keeps the suspense of this novel churning.

Probably my one complaint about this book is that we only heard the story from Ada's first-person perspective. I think Halle could have successfully incorporated Jay's perspective without diluting the suspense. I could see why Ada wants to "undo him as he undoes me." In turn, she is forbidden fruit to him.

"You're eighteen, Ada. Pretty sure you're allowed to have a man around you. Back in the day, you would have been my bride at sixteen." With that statement, I was thinking, "Who is this guy?" Well, read and find out.

I have to say I found myself impatient as I swiped the pages of this book, and I think that is the hallmark of a well-written suspense novel. 4.5 stars. [Plus, loved the book cover.]
3732432
In the great tradition of Gothic horror films, Mary Reilly updates the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novella, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  The screenplay by Christopher Hampton, from the novel by Valerie Martin, changes the focus from the bizarre transformation of Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde, his evil alterego, and creates instead a tension-filled relationship between the dark and "misunderstood" Dr. Jekyll and his young and proper housemaid, Mary Reilly.  Despite (or perhaps because of) the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her father, Mary does not run from Dr. Jekyll, though she always seems fearful.  He confides in her about his research and gives her a sense of value which she does not receive from any other source.

Julia Roberts as the very repressed Mary, plays most of the film through her expressive eyes, which reveal her fear and her moods.  Little dialogue is necessary, as John Malkevich, as both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, sneers, threatens, and dissembles, while also conveying a vulnerability to which Mary Reilly responds.  The cast of other house servants is outstanding, but Glenn Close as the off-the-wall madam Mrs. Farraday, steals the show, playing the role in her nastiest Cruella DeVille mode.  The Victorian setting is beautifully conveyed, from the claustrophic interiors of the bawdy house to the stark black and white interior of Jekyll's laboratory, and the costuming reflects the same color palette.

The cinematography takes advantage of architectural components, filming from above catwalks in Dr. Hyde's laboratory, through windows, around doorways and halls, and from under tables.  Additional scenes of dark, foggy weather are used to great advantage as a contrast to the brightness and butchery in the markets, hospital autopsy rooms, and Mrs. Farraday's accommodations.

The psychological portrait of Dr. Jekyll and his "evil twin," Mr. Hyde have been discussed for over a hundred years, and this film does not add anything new to that portrait.  The inclusion of Mary Reilly, however, is a new twist, one which might have been more believable if her own psychological motivation for remaining in Dr. Jekyll's household had been more fully developed.  The special effects as Dr. Jekyll wrestles with his inner demon are compelling and unique, but the ending just peters out, offering no emotional resolution or intellectual conclusion regarding Mary Reilly. Great fun for fans of Gothic horror.  Mary Whipple