Zombie (1980)

Zombie is perhaps not the BEST example of zombie cinema, nor perhaps of Italian horror or Lucio Fulci, but it is the kind of movie that is hard to get out of your mind once you’ve seen it. With each new viewing, you come to appreciate it all the more. Watch Zombie and you will come face to face with full-out zombie gore.

Plot summary for Zombie:
A professor makes a big mistake in opening a crypt. Doing so brings a cast of rotting zombies back to semi-life. The zombies descend on a nearby villa, crashing a party and attacking a group of jet-setters amid their celebration.

Memorable scene from Zombie:
It’s become a horror film cliche, but Zombie takes it to new heights. Living person knows loved one is dead, but when loved one returns as a zombie, living person thinks dead loved one is somehow alive and allows dead loved one to gnaw at some random body part. In this case, the scene involves breast ripping.

Why we love Zombie:
We love this film because of the carnage candy. It is very gory. Very violent. Who cares about acting when you have that? The special effects are great, too. With this film, first impressions can sometimes be deceiving. Give Zombie a chance.

Frightening Fact:
The movie Zombie is known by a number of names. In America it is also known as Burial Ground. In Italy it is simply called Le Notti del Terrore. In England it is called Night of Terror or The Zombie Dead.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka scared us silly when we were kids. Maybe it was all those Oompa Loompas. Or the way kids disappeared anytime they did anything a little bit rotten. Children’s author Roald Dahl knew how to write a story to keep the kiddies in line. In Wonka world if you’re bad, you get sucked up a tube into the boiler room or turned into a big, round blueberry. Does it get creepier than that? It is definitely a horror movie!

Plot summary for Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory:
Reclusive candy maker Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder) and his posse of FREAKY Oompa Loompa helpers thrill the world by giving them a chance to buy a candy bar containing one of five golden tickets that will be the key to the factory door. The winners get a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate and a tour of the factory by Wonka himself. A poor boy named Charlie Bucket, along with four spoiled children (Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Mike Teevee, and Augustus Gloop) win the prize. Along the way children drop off one by one when unable to overcome challenges posed by the mysterious Wonka. Will Charlie prevail? We’ll never tell.

Memorable scene from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory:
Wonka takes the kids for a cruise down the river of chocolate aboard the Wonkatania. The boat soon takes on break-neck speed as various monsters fly by.

Memorable quote from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory:
“Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.”

Why we love Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory:
Anything that celebrates our love of candy and, in particular, chocolate, must be a good thing. We also love the idea of a reclusive business man who harbors otherworldly beings in his factory. Gene Wilder’s performance as Wonka is top drawer. He reminds us of a cross between Freddy Krueger and Donald Trump (weird hair included). We don’t really know what’s scarier — Wonka or the abject poverty of Charlie’s family (four grandparents to a bed — EEK!).

Frightening Fact:
In the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory scene in which the children enter the factory for the first time, the awed expressions on the kids’ faces were genuine. They had not been allowed access to that part of the Willy Wonka set until the scene was being shot. Many of the objects in the main factory room were in fact edible, including the giant lollipops.

The Sentinel (1977)

Plot Summary for The Sentinel -
A filthy rich girl turned model decides she needs a break from her over-controlling boyfriend. In an effort not to live on her dead daddy’s money, she opts for a really cheap, massive brownstone apartment in Brooklyn. The catch is that it’s really hiding the gateway to hell. Sitting in the top apartment is “The Sentinel”, the blind Catholic guardian (priest or nun) of the gateway that keeps the minions from spewing forth and being evil. It’s a big hush hush duty kept secret by the Diocese.

The movie stars Cristina Raines as the model Alison. There is a reason you’ve never heard of her - she’s not that effective. On the brighter side is an amazing cast of then relative unknowns at the time which include Chris Sarandon, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Berenger, Beverly D’Angelo and Jerry Orbach. Most have very minor speaking parts, but it’s strange to see them looking so young and well, unknown. The veterans of the cast include Burgess Meredith, Ava Garder, John Carradine and Jose Ferrer.

Memorable scene from The Sentinel:
Not exactly scary, but equally shocking, was a scene in which Alison visits her neighbors - a very strange female couple. Let’s just we have a new viewpoint on Beverly D’Angelo.

The Sentinel wasn’t all that bad - admittedly it had some very creepy scenes and make-up (courtesy of Dick Winston). The story was choppy, however and seemed to try to cover a lot of bases and drop storylines all over the place.

Frightening Fact:
Towards the end of “The Sentinel”, a lot of real people with physical deformities were used instead of simply putting make-up and prosthetics on real actors. The effect is rather shocking.