The Sentinel (1977)

In another half-assed “gotta-get-a-review-in-every-day” effort I present you with the 1977 supernatural horror flick The Sentinel. The film was directed and adapted for the screen by Michael Winner, a man who I can assume never fails at anything. I first discovered The Sentinel through the Holy Bible of Horror Cinema also known as Bravo’s 100 Scariest Movie Moments. I’m not sure I would of heard of this Exorcist wannabe if not for that immortal Bravo mini-series but I do see some of the appeal. The film is a little bit The Exorcist, a little bit Rosemary’s Baby and a little bit The Omen. But is it as good? Let’s find out.

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Eraserhead (1977)

When John offered me the chance to revisit Eraserhead for this year’s Shocktober, I jumped at the chance much more so I could watch it rather than actually write about.  Because even from the one experience I had watching Eraserhead back in high school, which was on some streaming site (probably in like 240p), I found that watching Eraserhead is an experience unlike any other.  The film is atmospheric, unsettling, and one of the most truly bizarre American films ever made.  But because it is a film that is so uniformly abstract, and so entrenched in mood and feeling rather than the conventions we usually associate with most movies, it’s hard to wrap any sort of words around what exactly this batshit film is.  But I’ll see what I can do. Continue reading →

House (1977)

In a last minute substitution, I present you with the Japanese take on the old haunted house formula with Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 1977 cult favorite House. Inspired by Jaws out of all things, Obayashi wanted to capture that same level of creativity and entertainment while simulatenously breathing new life into an already decrepit subgenre. Where did he find his inspiration? Why his pre-teen daughter Chigumi of course. Who better to dream up nightmares than an innocent child? But what could a child possibly bring to the table that we haven’t already seen? How about a house that eats people? Or maybe killer furniture? How about watermelons turning into heads? House has all of this and much, much more.

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Eaten Alive (1977)

I’ve seen a handful of Tobe Hooper films; Poltergeist, Salem’s Lot, Lifeforce, none of which have come close to equaling the surreal discomfort of the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What makes TCM so great is the fact that it feels so fresh, raw, it has a young director brimming with morbid inspiration. By that logic you would assume Hooper’s sophomore effort would be his closest to matching that energy and inspiration. Sorry logic. Eaten Alive is probably the worst Tobe Hooper movie I’ve seen. What happened? Let’s try and find out.

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Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

Let me take you back to a simpler time, 2004. A young John Otteni was beginning to delve into the world of horror cinema with little direction. Thankfully, a shining light came in the form of the Bravo Channel. The 100 Scariest Movie Moments was a five-part documentary series airing on Bravo in October 2004. The miniseries included interviews from all of the great Masters of Horror; Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Guillermo del Toro, Gilbert Gottfried, and more talking about horror movies.

The reason this program was important to me was it gave me a template for my horror movie education. Of course, the list included the classics; Frankenstein, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, but it also introduced me to more obscure titles like Zombi, Cat People, The Devil’s Backbone, and The Vanishing. I still come back to this list time to time to check off more films, which is how Alice, Sweet Alice came to be today’s entry.

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Carrie (1976)

We’ve reviewed a lot of obscure films for Shocktober thus far but not this isn’t one of them. Carrie is one of the greatest horror movies of the 1970s. Period. Carrie has it all; great performances by Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie (both Oscar nominated for their roles), auteur Brian De Palma at the helm, a fantastic score by Pino Donaggio, the prom scene to end all prom scenes and Stephen King’s signature all over it. Though most importantly, it has the scares. Oh yes, yes indeed.

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