parry_na

Olivia (played by Holly Kenney, who also wrote this) and her friends go on vacation, mainly to allow Olivia some respite after an apparent suicide attempt. They're a fairly likeable bunch, although liable to be annoying from time to time, but they mean well. The problem is, that although her friends think she tried to end her own life, Olivia believes someone attacked her.

This is a fairly low-budget venture. It doesn't try to revolutionise cinema as we know it. It does, however, present a solid and mainly well-played thriller/horror, with some convincing moments of jeopardy and a nice, subtly signposted twist at the end. Kenney is talented both as a writer and an actress; Adam Newacheck impresses as director too - there are some nice scene-setting flourishes and the tension is certainly ramped up.

Once again, there are several online reviews attacking this film for not being a higher-budgeted venture, which is a depressingly common occurrence. I'm not sure what some people want from a film that hasn't had multi-million dollars spent on it. I had a great time with 'Stranger in the Woods', and my score is 7 out of 10.

This 1970 film is one of many from that period I have only just got around to seeing. On reflection, there's a chance I might have watched it a few years ago and put it out of my mind. It's a meandering, overlong, frequently incomprehensible, disjointed jumble with one saving grace - Alfred Marks as Detective Supt. Bellaver.

Apparently, Marks added a few ad-libs throughout many of his scenes, raising the interest level with his witticisms. Probably better remembered as a comedian, he steals the show here, his character providing the glue that brings the many varied set pieces together. Despite this, it's near impossible to get swept up in this.

Securing the talents of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and various other well-known faces, the characters they play only feature sporadically, as if they were only available for a day or so for shooting.

Although it has its moments, I can't really recommend this. It's a time-filler rather than delivering the goods and puts me in mind of the hastily made 'Doctor Phibes Rises Again' from a couple of years later. The thread running through this barely qualifies as a storyline and, despite Marks, seems to last a lot longer than its 95-minute runtime.

You may think your Blu-ray has skipped to the halfway mark of this zippy and atmospheric Mexican horror film, for the first scene dives headlong into a sea of horrors involving a blank-eyed woman and her violent ward who set upon a group of travellers. After the credits have rolled, we only then focus on the origins of the characters, all shot in splendidly stark monochrome.

The story is simple. Married couple Amelia (Rosita Arenas) and Jaime (Abel Salazar) travel to a vast country house owned by Selma (Rita Macedo), Amelia's aunt. Selma is a witch who uses the couple to resurrect 'la Llorona' (the crying woman). That's all you need to know.

This is a good, solid, spooky film, very carefully made and impressive, especially for its time. Horror and destruction come to an impressively realised head toward the climactic moments, and director Rafael Baledón is in no rush to spare the audience a moment.

My score is 7 out of 10.