Author: Sandy Ferber

In today’s 23rd and final Shocktober Double Feature, we will deal with an ax-wielding nutjob, Leslie Nielsen, horny camp counselors, and a relentless series of homicides! It’s Prom Night and Friday the 13th!

PROM NIGHT (1980)

Take a dash of Brian de Palma’s Carrie, blend in a hint of John Carpenter’s Halloween, sprinkle in a healthy pinch of Saturday Night Fever and you may end up with a concoction very much like 1980’s Prom Night,

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be mesmerized by a hideous neck fetus (yes, you read that right), a levitating old biddy, a spelunking trip gone horribly wrong, and albino bat creatures! It’s The Manitou and The Descent!

THE MANITOU (1978)

My psychotronic-film guru, Rob, didn’t have to do more than give me a one-sentence summary of its storyline in order to convince me to see 1978’s The Manitou. After all, what horror fan wouldn’t be sold by a plot in which pretty Susan Strasberg develops a large tumor on her neck,

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be chilled by a seriously haunted house, a creepy séance, an evil old witch, and David McCallum! It’s The Changeling and The Haunting of Morella!

THE CHANGELING (1980)

I came to discover this movie after reading of it in the wonderful reference book DVD Delirium, which begins its review of The Changeling by saying “Now this is how you do a scary ghost story.” As it turns out, I couldn’t agree more.

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be faced with an LSD freakout, a meat-cleaver murder, bare-nekkid ladies, and extraterrestrial insectoids! It’s Mantis in Lace and Breeders!

MANTIS IN LACE (1968)

Mantis in Lace is, in four fairly equal quarters, a soft-core skin flick, a psychedelic drug movie, a slasher horror film AND a police procedural. In it, we meet Lila (Susan Stewart), a young and gorgeous topless dancer who takes LSD one night with a guy she’s picked up. After hallucinating pretty severely for a while,

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be gobsmacked by a grown man who lives in a baby crib, the always-wonderful Marianna Hill, zombies, and a haunted farmhouse! It’s The Baby and The Abandoned!

THE BABY (1973)

Although many of us have been guilty of “not acting our age” on occasion, few can be said to be so consistently immature as the character David Manzy plays in the 1973 horror film The Baby. Manzy’s Baby is a 21-year-old man who lives in a crib,

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will encounter Satanic worship, British beatniks, blood addiction, and The Night of the Living Dead’s Duane Jones! It’s Devils of Darkness and Ganja & Hess!

DEVILS OF DARKNESS (1965)

Despite being a longtime fan of the British horror film, it was only recently that I learned of the existence of 1965’s Devils of Darkness, and now that I have seen it, I know why. This product of Pinewood Studios is a fairly undistinguished effort that just barely manages to entertain and is never even remotely chilling.

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be rattled by lions and tigers and jaguars, Tippi Hedren, the deadly black mamba, and Klaus Kinski! It’s Roar and Venom!

ROAR (1981)

It turns out that birds aren’t the only critters to have given actress Tippi Hedren a rough time on screen! In Roar (1981), a film that Tippi and her then-husband Noel Marshall – along with sons John and Jerry and daughter Melanie Griffith – star – in (Tippi and Noel also wrote, produced and directed),

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be flabbergasted by the sight of a creepy castle crypt, a 200-year-old bloodsucker, surfing dudes, and bikini babes! It’s The Playgirls and the Vampire and The Beach Girls and the Monster!

THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (1960)

The Playgirls and the Vampire, an odd Italian amalgam of sexploitation and Gothic horror, was originally released in 1960 under the perhaps more fitting title The Last Prey of the Vampire. The five gals who are forced to spend the night at the creepy castle of Count Gabor Kernassy,

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we have Nicole Kidman (X2!), a murderous weathergirl, Jersey ghosts, and photosensitive children! It’s To Die For and The Others!

TO DIE FOR (1995)

The phenomenal success of programs such as The Jerry Springer Show and American Idol amply demonstrates that people in this country are more than willing to suffer any number of indignities just to get their kissers up there on the TV screen. But who would be willing to go to the lengths that Suzanne Stone resorts to,