Really Awful Movies: Ep 285 – The Ritual

~ reallyawfulmovies

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:32 — 37.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

The Ritual is a UK lost-in-the-woods horror, set in Sweden and filmed in far cheaper Romania.

A group of laddish UK fellows are mulling over different vacation options while guzzling pints in a pub. They consider the usual suspects – Vegas, Amsterdam – and settle on hiking in Scandinavia.

Unfortunately, one member of the group, after a night of boozing, is victim to a convenience store robbery gone wrong. He’s murdered in cold blood.

The friends, in a tribute to the deceased, opt for the hiking / wilderness excursion. And boy was that a wrong move.

This week on the Really Awful Movies Podcast, we tackle this effort, and compare it with others of its ilk.

We discuss the Canadian backwoods horror, Rituals, as well as White Raven, and explore folk horror flicks like The Wicker Man.

The hosts also delve into what makes a good backwoods horror, characterization, the effectiveness of supernatural elements, bears, the Canadian wilderness, camping, Algonquin Park and much, much more!

Subscribe, folks!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 284 – Kirk Hammett’s Horror collection

~ reallyawfulmovies ~ 1 Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:15 — 55.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

Kirk Hammett is best known, of course, as Metallica’s lead guitarist. However, fewer people know that the man has been collecting horror and sci fi memorabilia – posters, lobby cards, artwork – for nearly 30 years.

It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection is on at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.

For genre fans, and especially for Universal horror fans, this is ABSOLUTELY MUST SEE stuff.

In particular, there’s a Swedish Metropolis poster that is a stunning, orange, art deco beauty. There’s a brimming with colour promotional piece for Invasion of the Saucer Men, that is literally out of this world. And perhaps the showstopper is a couple of gorgeous Bride of Frankenstein pieces.

But don’t take our word for it, go to the ROM and see the thing for yourself (bonus for you Metallica fans, there are examples of the guitarist’s horror-centric guitars on display too).

On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, we let someone else do the talking.

Tune in, and find out what makes collector Kirk Hammett tick.

 

Really Awful Movies: Ep 283 – Seven Blood-Stained Orchids

~ reallyawfulmovies

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:42 — 34.5MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

It’s giallo time on the Really Awful Movies Podcast! That’s right, that sub-genre of horror devoted to all things black-gloved, and lurking about in the bushes amidst gorgeous Italian vistas. This week, we are tackling Seven Blood-Stained Orchids by Umberto Lenzi (we waxed poetic about his hilarious Nightmare City on an earlier episode).

Many folks don’t know that U.L. was a giallo director before he became known for blood-filled gut-munchers like the above, and Cannibal Ferox/Man from the Deep River.

So, how does Lenzi acquit himself here? Fair well, we’d say!

The plot: someone is murdering women in Umbria, Italy. And what they have in common is that a killer is leaving behind a silver moon amulet.

Soon, the cops are on the hunt for the suspect, who is caught mid-attack on a train, leaving a survivor. She and her husband, a fashion designer, play amateur detective and try to find out who the culprit is.

Glorious stuff. There are beautiful set pieces, lovely settings, and as a bonus: Antonio Sabato!