August 22, 1986 (US)
“A new group of girls arrives at Pridemore Juvenile Facility, where the brutal warden plays favoritism with a few, and treats the rest like animals. But one girl is not taking this horrible treatment lying down.” [IMDb]
Writer & Director: Tom DeSimone
Stars: Linda Carol, Wendy O. Williams, Pat Ast, Sybil Danning, Sherri Stoner
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091836
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_School_Girls
September 26, 1962 (United States, Lawrence, Kansas, premiere)
“After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival.” [IMDb]
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055830/
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival_of_Souls
Director: Herk Harvey
Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger
https://archive.org/details/CarnivalOfSoulsVideoQualityUpgrade
March 25, 1994 (Italy), April 26, 1996 (USA)
Francesco Dellamorte laments his name – Andre Dellamorte would be much better. He is the local caretaker at a small town cemetery in Italy, which entails an additional task beyond digging graves and keeping the grounds in order. Here, the dead return to life as flesh eating zombies and need to be put back where they belong, a second time. This black comedy is based loosely off of the popular italian horror detective comic, Dylan Dog, and involves romance, comedic relief from a bizarre sidekick, a very large gun, and a marvelous ossuary. Some of the best visuals, creative writing, and artistic delivery of the 1990s, and a must see for cemetery aficionados. The best black comedy since The Loved One.
Director: Michele Soavi
Writers: Tiziano Sclavi, Gianni Romoli
Stars: Rupert Everett, François Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109592
Two Thousand Maniacs is the 1964 follow up to Blood Feast by Herschell Gordon Lewis, ‘the godfather of gore’. One of the earliest examples of hicksploitation films, it was lauded by Lux Interior of The Cramps as an all-time great. It performed well in drive-in theaters despite being heavily cut down from Lewis’ abundant use of bright red blood, cannibalism, and torture with attention to detail and an over the top approach. This formula would establish itself as a classic in horror films to come, such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and attracted the admiration of a new generation of filmmakers like John Waters.
(aka La noche del terror ciego)
April 10, 1972 (Spain), February 1973 (USA)
Knights from the medieval era who were executed for black magic rise from the tomb to brutally murder intruders on their graves. Their only problem: they are blind! Nevertheless, the body count and creative death scenes is impressive. The plot is about as slow moving as the undead antagonists, but for low budget horror, we’re only here for a cheap thrill.
It has a succession of sequels with Return of the Blind Dead (1973), The Ghost Galleon (1974), Night of the Seagulls (1975). It’s success helped kickstart the Spanish horror film boom of the early 1970s
Written & Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Starring: Lone Fleming and César Burner