POSSESSION (1981) – Episode 190 – Decades of Horror 1980s
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
Release Date: 10/04/2021
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
he Grue-Crew steps into the theater for STAGEFRIGHT (1987, Deliria), directed by Michele Soavi (The Church, The Sect, Cemetery Man). Part Friday the 13th, part Argento Giallo, all Slasher, Stagefright features an escaped madman donning the Owl Man costume from a stage play to slash and slay the entire cast and crew. What fun! The cinematography looks amazing, the gore is brilliantly executed, and the cast is better than anticipated. The Grue-Crew discuss the cast, the first-time director’s path, and the death count. Do not miss this one. STAGEFRIGHT (1987) Episode 320 – Decades of Horror...
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The Grue-Crew (Jeff, Gregory, and Bill) gather to discuss Mario Bava's film RABID DOGS (1974, CANI ARRABBIATI). The movie, filmed under its original title "L'uomo e il bambino", was shelved before it was finished when the financers died leaving it buried under bankruptcy for decades. From there, its strange road to a DVD release and a subsequent reedit by Bava's son Lamberto Bava continued. Bill, being a massive Bava fan, leads Jeff and Gregory to discuss this strange inclusion in a master director's filmography. Enjoy! RABID DOGS (1974, CANI ARRABBIATI) Episode 277 - Decades of Horror 1970s...
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I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957) is B-Movie gold, perfect for 1950s drive-in nonsense. The Grue-Crew discuss the film's goofy yet gory monster, the mastery of tempered scene chewing that is Whit Bissell, and the extreme lack of teenagers in this teenage monster movie. Is it a good movie? Nah, not really. But that doesn't mean it isn't a brilliantly fun movie of its time. There's plenty to enjoy. And, as Bill noted, somehow when viewing I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN now, it is both better and worse than remembered. Check this review out and enjoy. I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957) Episode...
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For episode 276, Bill picks the early '70s ABC Movie of the Week, THE CAT CREATURE (1973). The TV Horror Movie is directed by Curtis Harrington and features Meredith Baxter, David Hedison, Gale Sondergaard, John Caradine, Stuart Whitman, Keye Luke, and Kent Smith. Written by Robert Bloch, the plot involves a stolen amulet removed from an Egyptian mummy, a deadly black cat, and 40s horror movie homages. What will the Grue-Crew think of this 1970s supernatural throwback? Ah! Check out the podcast to find out. Enjoy! THE CAT CREATURE (1973) Episode 276 - Decades of Horror 1970s Quote: "One thing...
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The Grue-Crew go mythical to revisit and review JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963) battling bronze giants, harrowing harpies, a horrifying hydra, and an army of skeletons. He who loves all things stop-motion, Bill Mulligan, steps up with his selection and results are amazing. The film still delivers awe and action all these years later and Ray Harryhausen’s mastery is in top form. As you can imagine, the discussion goes extra long diving into the cast of characters, the creatures, the stop-motion, and Greek legend. Join us for this episode, it is worth every minute. Thank you, Bill, great...
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For this episode of DOH80s, Doc has chosen THE LAST SHARK (1981, L’ultimo squalo) which is also known as GREAT WHITE and THE LAST JAWS. Yeah, if the last name there makes you wonder how Universal let that slide. Well, they didn’t! This is one of the most notorious accounts of cinematic plagiarism in film history. Universal Studios did sue and won which resulted in THE LAST SHARK being immediately removed from theaters and becoming unavailable in the States for decades. Is the film any good? Hell no, it’s a mess. However, it is so bad it’s good. James Franciscus and Vic Morrow lead the...
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The Grue-Crew head to France (actually Spain) to meet up with Waldemar Daninsky and Countess Wandesa to revisit THE WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971, La Noche de Walpurgis). After decades of watching this classic Spanish wolfman film, seeing the restored 4k version is a revelation. Sure, it's a B-Movie, but it's a fantastic B-Movie. Now it is easy to see why this is Paul Naschy's most successful film, it clearly deserves that honor. If you've never seen THE WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN, seek out a 4K version or a streaming version of it online, stay away from the graining, overly dark...
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The Grue-Crew follow H.G. Wells and THING TO COME (1936) 90 years into the past to predict 10 years into the future. This film is fully politically charged but incredibly fascinating. While it slogs from time to time compared to modern films, it manages to deliver as a movie by the end. The film spans over four distinct dates: 1940, 1966, 1970, and 2036 encompassing a decades long war and the reformation of civilization afterwards. The main character that we follow is John Cabal as he goes from a cynical visionary to a liberator from the skies as part of the Wings Over the World; for the 2036...
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The Decades of Horror Grue Crews stick with the folk horror subgenre and bring in Scott Wells to help explain some of the details. This time, the film is A CHINESE GHOST STORY (1987), from Hong Kong producer Tsui Hark and director Siu-Tung Ching. The great Leslie Cheung and Joey Wang create the chemistry necessary to believe this “ghost meets innocent, naive tax collector” love story. Of course, they need the help of Wu Ma’s Monk/Swordsman to overcome the hold the Old Dame has over the two lovebirds. Much wire-work, special makeup effects, stop-motion animation, and mystical shenanigans...
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This exercise in lycanthropic folk horror from Argentina catches the Grue Crew by surprise. Lulled to sleep by the slow, freezer-burn pace of the first twenty minutes, they immediately perk up when the Devil shows his face. There are several reasons to watch this film: brilliant cinematography, an excellent performance from Alfredo Alcón, entertaining supporting characters, fascinating folk horror, and a WEREWOLF! Bill and Jeff are joined by Scott Wells, who adds his folklore expertise, and Gregory Crosby, who contributes his usual insightful analysis. Enjoy! NAZARENO CRUZ AND THE WOLF (1975)...
info_outline"I can't exist by myself because I'm afraid of myself, ...because I'm the maker of my own evil." This quote is a pretty good metaphor for the theme of this movie… maybe? Join your faithful Grue-Crew - Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr - as they relish Metrograph’s brand new 4K restoration of Possession (1981), Andrzej Zulawski’s brilliant and demented film.
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 190 – Possession (1981)
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A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
IMDb
- Director: Andrzej Zulawski
- Writer: Andrzej Zulawski (original screenplay); Frederic Tuten (adaptation)
- CInematographer: Bruno Nuytten
- Special Effects: Carlo Rambaldi (the creature)
- Selected Cast
- Isabelle Adjani as Anna / Helen
- Sam Neill as Mark
- Margit Carstensen as Margit Gluckmeister
- Heinz Bennent as Heinrich
- Johanna Hofer as Heinrich's mother
- Carl Duering as Detective
- Shaun Lawton as Zimmermann
- Michael Hogben as Bob
- Maximilian Rüthlein as Man with pink socks (as Maximilian Ruethlein)
- Thomas Frey as Pink socks' acolyte
- Leslie Malton as Sara, woman with club foot
- Gerd Neubert as Subway drunk
Chad first saw this film at a drive-in theater when he was a teen and thought it was incredibly boring. This time around, he found the relationship split brought to life to be incredibly intense with the camera work adding to the claustrophobic feel. Crystal loved it as well, calling Possession brilliance wrapped in a madness spiral with an amazing monster. Generally, Bill is not a fan of “artsy-fartsy European” movies, but he agrees with Crystal that Possession is a masterpiece even though he is not sure if he understands it or if he is supposed to understand it. He calls Isabelle Adjani’s performance in this strange, well-directed, beautiful film to be one of the bravest he has seen. Jeff loves this film and is extremely excited to have the chance to cover it. He is delighted with the new 4K restoration from Metrograph which is far superior to the Blu-ray release in his collection.
If you’re interested in checking out this incredible 4K restoration of Possession, and you should be, it opens theatrically and digitally exclusively at the Metrograph October 1-14 and in theaters nationwide on October 15.
Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Chad, and will be Rawhead Rex (1986). Really! They’re not kidding this time. You won’t want to miss that one!
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NOTE: The images below are from prior releases and not from the new 4K restoration.