They Bite (1996)

When people find out I write a blog about movies, naturally they ask questions about what kinds of movies I discuss.  They may ask, “Do you write about the art of cinema?” or “Do you talk about the films of [insert artsy-fartsy director name here]?” or “You talk about that there Grinch movie from 2000???  I liked that movie somethin’ fierce!”  Normally, it comes down to me saying I write about B-movies, and that I’ve done it almost 150 times.  That usually spurns the question, “So… Can you explain what those movies that you watch are like?”

To which I can give only this response: “They Bite.”

Terror (1978)

Let’s talk about Norman J. Warren.

He’s someone who I’ve yet to really feature on this blog, but I will be correcting that big time from this point forward.  He’s a British filmmaker who was always into the movies growing up.  His films were often deemed part of British “New Wave” Horror.  Basically, taking what Amicus and Hammer did with sexuality and gore and pushing it a little further for the end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s.

His movies are really interesting – and, in my opinion, actually fascinating and fun to watch, if not good.  He seems to have ideas, even if what he starts with isn’t that groundbreaking.  Want to tell a ghost story?  Well, he’ll tweak it here and there and include a time element and give you Bloody New Year.  Want to tell a story about an alien coming to Earth?  Well, how about we throw in abuse and a lesbian couple and a sinister reason for the alien to be here and give you Prey.  How about yet another alien story, but this time include impregnation and have the mother of the new alien/human hybrid become murderously protective of the monster?  Yeah, we’ll call that Inseminoid.

X-Ray (aka Hospital Massacre, 1982)

You know what I haven’t had in a while?  The sudden urge to kill myself out of utter desperation.

Er…  I mean a Cannon Films movie.  I…  Um.  That’s what’s I meant.  Uh…  Anyway, one thing that you can definitely say about the Cannon gurus Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus is that they sure think they know what people want.  In the example of X-Ray (aka Hospital Massacre), they assumed we all wanted a slasher film in a hospital with a hot babe.

Their assumptions were right, but we also kind of want some sort of story that makes sense.  Is that here in this movie?  No?  Yes?  Not really?

Faust: Love of the Damned (2000)

Alrighty…  I haven’t yet had enough of demons and devils and shit.  So let’s keep that rolling with this week’s feature – Faust: Love of the Damned.

What’s really interesting about this movie is that it’s directed by Brian Yuzna who’s been involved in several great horror movies of the 80s from Re-Animator to From Beyond to Society to… Honey, I Shrunk the Kids…?!?  No shit?  Huh.  Well, he also produced Ticks, a movie I familiarized myself with a couple months back.

Beyond the Door (1974)

It’s another Friday, and another chance for me to talk about B-Movies.

This week’s is what most would consider a “mockbuster”.  It’s an Italian and US co-production totally aping off the hugely successful 1973 horror movie, The Exorcist, called Beyond the Door.  Well, it’s called that here.  In Italy, it is called Who Are You? and in the UK, it was released under the title Devil Within Her – which sounds like a completely different type of movie.

Dead & Buried (1981)

Let’s talk about a classy movie!

Dead & Buried is a 1981 flick that takes a different approach to zombies.  It is written by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett who is best known for writing the classic sci-fi/horror flick Alien.  That’s a fact that the poster really wants to sell this movie on – “The creators of ALIEN… bring a new terror to Earth.”

Dan O’Bannon also made Return of the Living Dead which is pretty much a zombie movie hall of fame entry from the mid 80s.  It’s fair to even say that O’Bannon’s work on that movie, matched with the Godzilla movies, and Roger Corman, helped create my love of B-Movies and, thus, well…

Zombie (1979)

I told you back in October that Demonia would not be the only time Lucio Fulci gets featured here on B-Movie Enema.

I mean, after all, that movie sucked, and he made so many other movies that were so much better.  Even his not so great movies were way better than Demonia.  Frankly, the only way to really make up for choosing that stinker is to cover the movie that he is probably best known for directing, 1979’s Zombie.

However, to really talk about Zombie, we need to take a step backwards in time to a few years before this movie would see the light of day.  

Space Babes from Outer Space (2017)

A few weeks ago, I had a big ol’ love fest over a little movie I picked up while I was at HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis this past August – Amazon Hot Box.  It was a marvelous little love letter to the exploitation and women in prison movies of the 70s.  It was brought to us by Work In Progress Films and writer/director James Bickert.  It was such a lovely throwback to those bonkers movies of evil wardens, sexy prisoners, silly side plots that ultimately lead nowhere, and all the things that I love about exploitation cinema.

It’s time to do it again with another filmmaker who is associated with Work In Progress and James Bickert, Brian K. Williams.  Here we have a good old fashioned story about buxom babes from beyond our world with a title that makes me giggle every time I say it (seriously, as my friend who had to hear me giggle every time she heard me say it at HorrorHound Weekend) – Space Babes from Outer Space!