The Abandoned

The Abandoned (2006)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Nacho Cerda

Starring: Anastasia Hille, Karel Roden, Valentin Goshev, Valentin Ganev, Paraskeva Djukelova

From: A number of different European companies 

I wanted to view a film from the old After Dark Horrorfest and a Letterboxd mutual mentioned they were a big fan of The Abandoned.

An adopted woman returns to her homeland of Russia in her early 40's. Her family history is so murky, it took years to discover she's inherited a rural farm in the middle of the woods, totally isolated. Atmosphere is provided by both the woods and abandoned buildings, whether in the daytime or at night. After the opening act, the viewer discovers this is a tale of the weird & surreal variety; as one of the screenwriters was Richard Stanley, that in hindsight isn't too big a surprise.

The Abandoned does have plenty of moments featuring what I call “2000's horror movie green”-you know which shade I'm referring to. The film also has a measured, deliberate pace; this won't be for all tastes but when I'm interested in the plot and characters-as was the case here-my interest never wavered. I did appreciate this unique tale on the haunted house genre. Its style and vibes makes it stand out compared to the other flicks I'll view during Spooky Season this year.

The interesting story set in the woods of Bulgaria (substituting for Russia) featuring a small cast & some effects... The Abandoned & its idiosyncratic take on family will resonate better for some than for others.

The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales

The Skeleton of Mrs. Morales (El Esqueleto de la Senora Morales) (1960)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Rogelio A. Gonzalez

Starring: Arturo de Cordova, Amparo Rivelles, Elda Peralta, Guillermo Orea, Rosenda Monteros

From: Alfa Fila S.A.

I am glad to have “tracked down” a copy of this film over two years ago; about darn time I finally checked it out, right? This film is more black comedy than horror, but indeed the titular Mrs. Morales is a rather terrifying woman. Domestic/familial abuse is a real-life nightmare.

She's long been married to a taxidermist, but Pablo is no Norman Bates; Gloria treats him disgracefully. She has convinced her pals that he's an alcoholic, woman-beating lout when he's actually a cool, gregarious dude that interacts w/ children and did not deserve all her manipulations, her vile behavior while professing she's a pious member of the Catholic church... screenwriter Luis Alcoriza wrote some Luis Bunuel films so I shouldn't have been surprised by this angle. It was made clear that Pablo still has feelings for his girl despite her hideous mistreatment of him.

Whether you think Pablo's behavior in the second half of the picture is warranted is up to personal opinion. For certain, director Rogelio A. Gonzalez and cinematographer Victor Herrera do a swell job w/ their jobs, creating a lovely black-and-white film to examine, striking imagery seen throughout. The colorful characters were acted well by the talented cast. Pablo has friends of his own we see on a few occasions. Gloria's priest is the most memorable of her pals. Arturo de Cordova was a gem as Pablo, relishing this delicious part.

Skeleton is a macabre delight, especially during the great finale. It's a shame that at least in America, people have to do some digging to even find a copy for streaming purposes. It is worth the effort, IMO.

That's the Way of the World

That's the Way of the World (1975)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Sig Shore

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Cynthia Bostick, Ed Nelson, Bert Parks, Earth, Wind & Fire

From: United Artists

How could I not watch a film starring Harvey Keitel w/ Earth Wind & Fire?

I've known of That's the Way of the World for years; it's not always been available for easy streaming online & there are only rare showings on channels like TCM. Well, on the 21st night of September-I saw what they did there-the Shout Studios YouTube channel uploaded the film. I also had to view this film before September ends.

It was only after I started the film did I realize it was an edited for TV version of the film. Despite my comments made throughout 2026, I am not against vulgarities in general. I don't mind some cursing; there was groans early on which I saw & heard some rather obvious S-bombs dubbed over. It would have been better if the upload made it clear that the print wasn't uncut & was modified, that's all. At least there didn't appear to be that much cursing throughout so that never became a major issue.

Keitel is COLEMAN BUCKMASTER (what a name) who is a great producer for A-Chord Records. He wants to continue making songs for EWF (excuse me... they are creatively known as THE GROUP here) but his bosses want him to work for The Pages, who are a bland, safe act comparable to The Carpenters... not bad and a safe act for the conservative owners but to him it's a bland, soulless pastiche. Personally, I also prefer the dynamite sound of EWF. Yes, from the bosses of the label there's rather thinly-veiled racism concerning a Black act.

That's the Way of the World (the film, not the great album of the same name which served as the soundtrack for the movie) is best when the viewer hears the songs from the album. The title track and Shining Star are the two most famous tunes. The plot itself-concerning Coleman's frustrations that he doesn't have his freedom and is forced to work on music he doesn't care for-is fine, mellow, methodical in its pace.

It was interesting to see how a song is made in the studio. However, to address a valid criticism I saw elsewhere, it's a curious irony in a film that obliquely addresses racism in music, that there isn't as much of EWF on screen or even on the soundtrack as you'd prefer. C'est la vie, for those that'd be interested in seeing Keitel either shirtless or wearing a tight top, the movie does give you that! Ol' Harvey turned 87 this year; I'm happy to give him his props while he is still alive... what a talented actor that's been enjoyed for years now. Hopefully he's alive for years to come and I'm glad he's still on screen but who know what could happen when you're not that far away from your 90's.

In any event, this was a naturally cynical look at the music business-which yes does explicitly address some horrifying predatory behavior; it is flawed for certain yet of course I would laugh at the 70's fashion-that one of the guys in The Pages wore a shirt w/ the Coca-Cola label except it says ENJOY COCAINE-or the girl in the Pages is known as VELOUR PAGE or the scene at a roller rink where The Group perform in the middle of the rink. I wasn't sure why the movie fired strays at Janis Joplin, but...

Diablo

Diablo (2025)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Ernesto Diaz Espinoza

Starring: Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Alanna de la Rossa, Lucho Velasco, Diana Hoyos

From: Many different companies

I was happy to see a new to me low-budget action picture starring both British actor/martial artist Scott Adkins and Chilean actor/martial artist Marko Zaror. The former has had roles in the likes of John Wick 4 and Doctor Strange while the latter was in Machete Kills... and John Wick 4. As stated on numerous occasions, it's a shame that cinema has regressed from the good old days where martial artists like them or a Michael Jai White could have a theatrical career making entertaining action flicks for the big screen.

This project had heavy involvement from the two leads. Adkins portrays a dude who goes to Colombia (where the film was shot by a Colombian crew) to kidnap the teen daughter of a pretty bad dude. Yes, the “kidnapping” isn't as sinister as it first appears; Zaror portrays a psychopath, whose distinguishing feature isn't the hysterical balding look he sports nor how the viewer will blatantly be reminded of the T-800. Rather, it's... he has a hook for a left hand that can also be either a metal fist or a knife!

There are some silly moments, the plot doesn't reinvent the wheel and the pedantic could nitpick... which perhaps I've done with cinema a time or two before... Me, I had a pretty good time. The Colombian setting was a nice change of pace. The movie was shot well & had plenty of what I wanted... brawls, martial arts, gunfights, etc. I also wanted to see Dudes Getting Wrecked (TM) and epic fights between the two leads; Diablo delivered on those promises as well with the cinematography changing when the action beats drop. As they were filmed in a dynamic manner that made the viewer feel each impact, I was more than satisfied.

Diablo wasn't an insufferable film that was overlong or filled w/ aggravating characters or ruined by “modern humor” that isn't funny and ruins the mood nor is it nonstop cursing as if someone or everyone is John Davidson... this is the sort of action film there needs to be more of in 2027 & beyond.

 

Monster from Green Hell

Monster from Green Hell (1957)

Runtime: 70 minutes

Directed by: Kenneth G. Crane

Starring: Jim Davis, Robert Griffin, Joel Fluellen, Barbara Turner, Eduardo Ciannelli

From: Gross-Krasne Productions

Am I the only one that remembers 1995's Attack of the Killer B-Movies?

It was a 1995 special that played September 2nd of that year (a Saturday) on NBC which was like MST3K (Frank Conniff was involved) except that they played four edited B-movies over a two hour block and they cut away to some stars of NBC's teen-centric shows at the time-including Dustin Diamond!-and Elvira. This was one of the four movies on the special; I didn't remember that was the case until last night as it has been 31 years. The other three were The Wasp Woman, Killers from Space, and The Navy vs. The Night Monsters. Only the last film was remembered... how can you forget something called THE NAVY vs. THE NIGHT MONSTERS?

Concerning Monster from Green Hell... the Americans fire up a pair of rockets into space carrying various animals as a precursor to discover whether humans could survive in space. Of course it goes wrong; one of the rockets crashes back to Earth, in “Africa.” “Space radiation” creates the giant wasps. Of course, there's a white doctor who has lived among “the hostile natives” for years and those natives are about as stereotypical as you'd expect for a B (or is that BEE?)-movie released in 1957 America on a double-bill w/ an edited dubbed version of the Toho Abominable Snowman film Half Human. In fact, there's a feared region known as Green Hell. The Black folk are portrayed as the superstitious type, unsurprisingly for the era.

Naturally, this is silly trash filled with stock footage, sometimes combined rather obviously with the wasp model, which at least didn't look bad. Heck, I was even a little pleasantly surprised that the region of Africa most of the movie's set in was a real location rather than a fake country or worst of all, never identified beyond “Africa” as if it's all one country. It's what was a territory then but in 1960 became the country of Gabon.

As typical for a 50's monster movie w/ hardly any budget, the monster isn't shown as much as perhaps the viewer-especially a modern one-would prefer. You can nitpick how plenty of time is eaten up by the two white scientists from America traveling 400 miles by foot to reach the village. The stock sound effects of “African animals” played at a near-constant rhythm is silly. Be that as it may, this was not incompetent like a Robot Monster or something from a Coleman Francis production. This was competent programming featuring acceptable effects designed for the drive-in movie crowd that presumably also did alright in later television viewings.

The film does have two cast members of some renown. Lead actor Jim Davis later created Garfield... no, this Jim Davis was Jock Ewing during the early days of the old TV show Dallas. Barbara Turner was an actor and screenwriter for decades (mainly in television) & also was the mom of Jennifer Jason Leigh—there is a resemblance.

Yes, it's hysterical that the giant wasps in Monster from Green Hell NEVER FLY; unless you have apiphobia, if especially you enjoy these B-movie 50's sci-fi pictures, you might think Green Hell is at least OK.

The House by the Cemetery

The House by the Cemetery (Quella Villa Accanto Al Cimitero) (1981)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Lucio Fulci

Starring: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina

From: Fulvia Film

It was about time I finally saw the third & final movie in Lucio Fulci's The Gates of Hell trilogy, right? The Beyond and City of the Dead are movies I like yet don't love like most others do. Give me Zombie, Don't Torture a Duckling, and The New York Ripper instead. That said, it was long overdue to complete the trilogy. Amusingly enough, I have seen kid actors Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina in The New Barbarians and The Great Alligator earlier in the year; time for me to view their most famous roles.

This movie will remind you-regardless of intent-of The Shining. A doctor moves his family to a Boston-area home to complete the research of his late colleague. Well, the late doctor committed suicide after killing his mistress in the house; the son of the family (BOB; not Bobby, nor Robert, nor Robby, but BOB) is a little boy who sees a spooky little redhead girl named Mae that foretells doom.

Yes, it's a Fulci so you don't want to scrutinize the plot or logic too hard. As typical, adults dubbing the children in an old Italian genre effort is always hysterical. The plot & logic can be wonky here yet this haunted house tale inspired by M.R. James & Lovecraft concerning the lore of the place-tied to a Dr. Freudstein-still has the sort of spooky vibes I dig while still delivering the gory moments you'd expect from the director. There's a great cobweb-strewn cellar in the house which sets a great mood which coexists w/ such wacky moments as the most tenacious bat in cinematic history.

Helping is that the story is relatively straightforward & not a convoluted mess full of disconnected scenes like I feel City of the Dead and Beyond were. A creepy villain reveal is also a nice asset, as is the typical unforgettable Italian genre score-Walter Rizzati and an uncredited Allesandro Blonksteiner in this case. In hindsight, Cemetery should have been viewed sometime sooner than 2021, which is when The Beyond was tackled in full. Alas...

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte) (1972)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Emilio Miraglia

Starring: Barbara Bouchet, Ugo Pagliai, Marina Malfatti, Marino Mase, Pia Giancaro

From: Several different European companies

It's been too long since any giallo films have been viewed; this certainly was a genre example—complimentary. It shouldn't be the only giallo I review the rest of the year, nor the only picture I view on Arrow's streaming platform.

The opening is set in 1958 at a castle, a pair of sisters arguing and fighting w/ each other more harshly than should be expected of a sisterly relationship; they are raised by their wheelchair-bound grandfather. He tells them lore after they ask about a creepy painting. There's a curse each century where as revenge for the Black Queen murdering her abusive sis the Red Queen, the Red Queen does in fact kill seven people, the Black Queen saved for last.

Flash-forward to '72 & of course, a woman clad in a red cloak is murdering SOB's, whether it be via stabbing or other methods. There's what I expected from the genre: a detective investigating the murders, red (cloaked) herrings, sleaze, a bottle of J&B whiskey in the background-as it was for most Italian genre movies of the 70's-sleaze, atmospheric settings, a convoluted plot, and more sleaze. The most famous names were Barbara Bouchet and Sybil Danning; both are shown naked-no one should be surprised the latter took off her clothing!

The Red Queen Kills Seven Times isn't the best of its type yet the German castle/village/city setting added nice flavor, there's nice cinematography, & the killer bellows a crazed laugh after each kill. A bonus for someone like me is some hysterical period fashion, perhaps appropriate for some of the leads working at a fashion house. Shame on me for not viewing any giallo flicks as of late until now.