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Movie Review

Slave of the Cannibal God (1978) Movie Review

Slave of the Cannibal God – Movie Review

"Slave of the Cannibal God" is a cult classic horror film about explorers facing unknown terrors in New Guinea's jungles.

First Reaction – Slave of the Cannibal God suit the cult classic status.

Watch Slave of the Cannibal God on Tubi.

Director: Sergio Martino

Writer: Cesare Frugoni, Sergio Martino (Screenplay)

Cast

Plot: A woman and her brother fly to New Guinea to look for a lost expedition, led by her husband, which has vanished in the jungle.

Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes 

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Slave of the Cannibal God starts when Susan Stevenson (Andress) comes searching for her husband. She is joined by Professor Edward Foster (Keach) and her brother Arthur Weisser (Marsina). The three travel into the unexplored jungles of New Guinea.

When the team explore the jungle, they learn of the horrors it can hold from dangerous predators and mysterious tribes habituating the jungle. However, the deepest part of the jungle holds the worst terror imaginable.

Verdict on Slave of the Cannibal God

Recap

The movie follows a group of explorers searching for a lost friend in the jungles of New Guinea. They learn about the threats in the jungle, but nothing prepares them for what is hiding deeper.

Best Parts

The sense of journey in the jungle is interesting to watch, with so many different threats for the explorers to come across. It plays into a horror of the unknown and how many people could be victims to a small tribe.

Worst Parts

The first must be animal violence. While some are natural events, others are human-animal moments. Outside of that, we have a slower pace which can slow the story up, as we wait for the real horror to unfold.

Final Thoughts –Slave of the Cannibal God is a disturbing journey into the depths of the jungle.

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Movie Review

The Medusa Touch (1978) Movie Review

The Medusa Touch – Movie Review

Discover the thrilling movie review of The Medusa Touch. Explore the telekinetic powers and disasters caused by a novelist in this gripping film.

ABC Film Challenge – Set in the UK – Z (Dr Zonfeld)

Director: Jack Gold

Writer: John Briley, Peter Van Greenway (Screenplay/Novel)

Cast

Plot: A telekinetic novelist causes disasters simply by thinking about them.

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Medusa Touch starts when novelist John Morlar (Burton) is brutally attacked in his apartment. Detective Inspector Brunel (Ventura) begins the investigation and discovers something strange about Mr Morlar. Dr Zonfeld (Remick) had been studying him, believing he has telekinetic powers.

Burnel starts investigating Morlar’s connection to disasters and the potential source behind them. However, the deeper he investigates, the more he discovers what is trying to be revealed and whether he could have made things happen.

Verdict on The Medusa Touch

The Medusa Touch is a mystery horror following a detective investigating a brutal attack. However, the more he learns about the victim, the more he seems connected to disasters. It takes the detective down a path dark path as he searches for the truth.

This movie looks at the concept of somebody believing they can create disasters. It follows the detective and the victim as they try to understand the truth. This creates a balance between coincidence and truth, which keeps us wondering what the truth is. It creates a new threat and one which could be explored even more. However, things can get caught up, as we jump between before and after the opening assault, which leaves us often going through the same story twice.

Where to Watch

JustWatch

Final Thoughts – The Medusa Touch is a twisted mystery horror.

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Movie Review

Omen II: Damien (1978) Movie Review

Omen II: Damien – ABC Film Challenge – Mystery – O – Omen II: Damien – Movie Review

Omen II

Director: Don Taylor

Writer: Stanley Mann, Mike Hodges (Screenplay)

Writer: Harvey Bernhard, David Seltzer (Story/Characters)

Cast

Plot: Damien the Antichrist, now about to turn thirteen years old, finally learns of his destiny under the guidance of an unholy disciple of Satan. Meanwhile, dark forces begin to eliminate all those who suspect the child’s true identity.

Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Omen II: Damien starts as a teenage Damien (Scott-Taylor) is now living with his Uncle Richard (Holden). Along with his cousin, they have been enrolled in a military academy preparing for the next stage of their lives. Meanwhile, new evidence of Damien’s true identity starts emerging.

As more people arrive with information, they start dying under unusual circumstances. Richard starts to learn the truth about Damien putting his own family in danger.

Verdict on Omen II: Damien

Omen II: Damien is a horror sequel that jumps forward to teenage years of Damien. The story sees Damien slowly starting to learn more about himself, while others are getting killed off for knowing more of the truth.

Most of this movie follows the same path for the adult characters. Where things get mixed up in a more interesting direction, is following Damien trying to understand what he might be. Seeing how his life is changing because of things he doesn’t understand. However, despite an interesting development in Damien’s story, we lose the tension and atmosphere previously created. This ends up being just a standard sequel failing to capture the previous magic.

Final Thoughts – Omen II: Damien is a standard horror sequel.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Horror – F- The Fury (1978) Movie Review

Director: Brian De Palma

Writer: John Farris (Screenplay)

Starring: Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes, Carrie Snodgress, Charles Durning, Amy Irving, Fiona Lewis, Andrew Stevens, Carol Eve Rossen

Plot: A former CIA agent uses the talents of a young psychic to help retrieve his telekinetic son from terrorists, who want to use his mental powers for evil.


Tagline – An experience in terror and suspense.

Runtime: 1 Hour 58 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Fury starts when CIA agent Peter (Douglas) comes under attack while on holiday with his son Robin (Stevens), seeing his son taken by a group of terrorists and former friend Childress (Cassavetes). Peter must go on the run, as he searches for his son, leading him to make a new connection.

Gillian (Irving) is a young woman that starts to notice her abilities as a psychic, with her powers getting more powerful, she starts having visions of Robin, leading to Peter needing to track her down if he is ever going to see his son again.

Thoughts on The Fury

Thoughts – The Fury is a horror sci-fi film that will blend the ideas of psychic abilities with the action involved in trying to locate a missing child. This is a story that is filled with conspiracies, showing how governments can operate in secret, trying to put people through a living hell, one where they can’t do anything to escape. This story will keep us guessing, while using the technology at the time to understand psychic abilities, or communicate in secret, something that wouldn’t happen in this modern world. The performances in the film are great with Kirk Douglas being the determined and broken man desperately wanting his son back, Amy Irving struggling to adapt to her new abilities after seeing what can happen around her. The bigger picture does feel like it dives into the panic within America about mind control within the government, which is something we would have seen at the time of release. This is a smart and clever idea that will leave you questioning who could be trusted in life.

Final Thoughts – The Fury is a disturbing thriller, showing the dangers of psychic abilities.

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Movie Review

ABC Film Challenge – Oscar Nomination – D – The Deer Hunter (1978) Movie Review

Director: Michael Cimino

Writer: Deric Washburn (Screenplay) Michael Cimino, Deric Washburn, Louis Garfinkle, Quinn K Redeker (Story)

Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, George Dzundza

Plot: An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.

Runtime: 3 Hours 3 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: The Deer Hunter starts as we meet the three best friends Michael (De Niro), Nick (Walken) and Steven (Savage) as they look to have one last party, for Steven’s marriage before they head of to Vietnam to fight for their country, but not before one of their traditions, a deer hunting trip.

Once the friends make it to Vietnam, they find themselves enduring a horrific game of Russian Roulette, as they look to escape the capture they find themselves in.

Thoughts on The Deer Hunter

Thoughts – The Deer Hunter is one of the classic movies for the era of the late 1970s, it will show us the horrors of war on the people who went there, showing how they will never be the same after returning, even if they can stay together with their friends. This is a very long movie, being 3 hours long holds back too much of this film, which could have easily been cut down to make a more engaging story. This does end up putting too much focus on certain factors, when it doesn’t need to, despite having brilliant performances throughout. it is more baffling that this is considered an all time classic.

Final Thoughts – The Deer Hunter is a long drawn out movie that needed to be cut down on runtime to get the bigger impact.

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Movie Review

Death on the Nile (1978) Movie Review

Director: John Guillermin

Writer: Anthony Schaffer (Screenplay)

Starring: Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jon Finch, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith

Plot: As Hercule Poirot enjoys a luxurious cruise down the Nile, a newlywed heiress is found murdered on board. Can Poirot identify the killer before the ship reaches the end of its journey?


Tagline – The only thing that could follow “Murder” is “Death”

Runtime: 2 Hours 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Murder Mystery 101

Story: Death on the Nile starts when heiress Linnet Ridgeway Doyle (Chiles) marries Simon Doyle (MacCorkindale) and go on their honeymoon in Egypt, where many of the important people in her life are, with Jackie (Farrow) the ex-fiancée of Simon’s, famous author Salome Otterbourne (Lansbury) and her daughter Rosalie (Hussey), along with famous detective Hercule Poirot (Ustinov), Mrs Can Schuyler (Davis) and her carer Miss Bowers (Smith), Colonel Race (Niven), Mr Ferguson (Finch) and Andrew Pennington (Kennedy) complete the people in attendance.

As the guests head down the river for the cruise, they find themselves being the only people away from the main land, until Linnet is murdered, with Hercule needing to put the pieces together to solve the mystery of who was behind the murder.

Thoughts on Death on the Nile

Characters – Hercule Poirot is the world famous detective that just so happens to be the river cruise when a murder happens, he must work with the clues to try and solve the crime before everyone leaves the cruise ship. He does think outside the box when it comes to figuring out the suspects. Linnet is the heiress that has just got married after stealing her husband off one of her better friends, she is the one that gets murdered, with everyone on board having a reason for wanting her dead. Mrs Van Schuyler is always after extra money in her life, she has always eyed pearls anyone else owned. Jackie the jilted ex, that is still unhappy with the fact that Linnet stole her fiancée, bringing the gun on board in the first place. Salome Otterbourne is a famous author that is always looking down on people, she bosses her daughter around. We have more suspects, each one could have motivation for killing Linnet, each has their own story for being on the cruise.

Performances – We have an amazing cast here, each one shines through the film, with Peter Ustinov bringing the detective to life, while each person brings their society figure to life.

Story – The story here follows Hercule Poirot as he looks to solve a murder on a river cruise of an heiress, he has plenty of suspects to question, all with motivation for killing the victim. As in most Agatha Christie novels, we get Poirot needing to try and solve a crime with a long list of suspects, one that will keep you guessing along the way. We do have to deal with plenty of rich society people here which are all very self-centred along the way, which will make us believe the people could well have been involved with what happened. It is a little bit long though, as it takes nearly an hour before the murder takes place.

Crime/Mystery – The crime is a murder that happens, with plenty of mystery about who was behind it, one that does keep us guessing.

Settings – The film keeps most of the film on the river cruise, it shows that the suspects could only be the people on the cruise, much like Murder on the Orient Express.


Scene of the Movie – The truth.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Too long.

Final Thoughts – This is a nice entertaining murder mystery that will keep us guessing along the way, with an excellent cast involved.

Overall: Entertaining Murder Mystery.