Horror Bulletin Monthly February 2022: Horror Bulletin Monthly Issues, #5

By Brian Schell

The fifth issue of the Horror Guys Monthly review digest, Horror Bulletin, includes reviews of twenty-six full-length films and three horror shorts. There's also a fun word search at the end that contains the titles of the films.

 

Each of the films contains a complete synopsis of the film, including spoilers (so beware!), as well as our commentary on the quality of the story and how well it holds up for viewers today.

 

This one includes the film "Jaws," which led us to do our own twisted version of "Shark Week" with ghost sharks, demon sharks, giant prehistoric sharks, and yes, Nazi sharks! It's fun!

 

We also looked at some of the highest-grossing horror films of all time, including Silence of the Lambs, Get Out, and Psycho.

Full-Length Films:
The Lost World (1925)
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
The Strange Case of Doctor Rx (1942)
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)
Not of This Earth (1957)
War of the Satellites (1958)
Psycho (1960)
Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1964)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Jaws (1975)
Eraserhead (1977)
Tourist Trap (1979)
Terror Train (1980)
Wolfen (1981)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Get Out (2007)
Shark Exorcist (2015)
The Wolf House (2018)
The Meg (2018)
Saint Maud (2019)
All the Colors of Giallo (2019)
Ouija Shark (2020)
Swallow (2020)
Sky Sharks (2020)
Nocturna: Side A: The Great Old Man's Night (2022)
Nocturna: Side B: Where the Elephants Go to Die (2022)

 

Short Films:
Joke's On You (2021)
L.U.N.A. (2022)
The Visit (2022)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Schell
• Release date: Jan 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201042462

Brian Schell

Brian Schell is a College English Instructor who has an extensive background in Buddhism and other world religions. After spending time in Japan, he returned to America where he created the immensely popular website, Daily Buddhism. For the next several years, Schell wrote extensively on applying Buddhism to real-world topics such as War, Drugs, Tattoos, Sex, Relationships, Pet Food and yes, even Horror Movies. Twitter: @BrianSchell Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/Brian.Schell Web: http://BrianSchell.com

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Well, the holidays are finally over, so we can say goodbye to all those wintery-themed horror films from last month. This month, we’re back to our usual anything goes format, with old films, new films, great films, and a handful of real stinkers.

HIGHLIGHTS

The new film highlights of the month, for me, anyway, were:

•   Nocturna Side A for some real drama and emotion.

•   Sky Sharks for some throw everything into the story fun.

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Then again, this month we also looked at some of the biggest box-office successes in horror history:

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•   The Silence of the Lambs

•   Jaws

•   Get Out

•   Psycho

Nobody’s gonna argue that those aren’t some of the best films ever put out there.

SHARK WEEK!

This month, we also did our first Shark Week just because it’s silly and we could do it. Shark Exorcist and Ouija Shark are every bit as awful as you’d imagine, while The Meg and Sky Sharks were a lot of fun.

WHAT MONTH IS IT?

Note that after our confusing bout with having two December issues, we’ve decided that since this is the current issue as of February, and it releases in February, that it’s only logical to call this the February issue. Clear as mud for everyone, right? I know! To help you know what you do and don’t already have, we are now numbering the issues on the cover: This is issue 5.

EMAIL US

We’d love to hear from you.

Drop us an email or contact us on social media if you prefer. If we get enough, we may even start a Letters to the Editor column. And remember, if you’re following us on Twitter or subscribed to our email newsletter, you’re already enrolled for our next giveaway!

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Contact us: [e-mail]

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And now, on with the reviews!

Part One

MOVIE REVIEWS

1925 THE LOST WORLD

Directed by Harry O. Hoyt

Written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Marion Fairfax

Stars Wallace Beery, bessie Love, Lloyd Hughes

Run Time: 1 Hour, 50 Minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV1AFopWcCg

SPOILER-FREE JUDGMENT ZONE

Before Godzilla, before King Kong, there were dinosaurs in The Lost World. As the first giant monster movie, it’s interesting to see where it all started. It’s a silent film, in black and white with many scenes having a color tint. Surprisingly entertaining with a decent story, it’s worth a watch just to see what movies were like almost a hundred years ago.

SYNOPSIS

We begin with a quick introduction from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself.

Gladys tells Ed that she’ll only marry a man of great deeds. No wimps allowed. Where is Ed going to find adventure to build his dating resume?

At the London Record-Journal, a newspaper, Professor Challenger is threatening to sue the newspaper over his dismissing his wild claims of dinosaurs. Challenger has no proof, so the paper is skeptical; actually they think he’s insane. Ed asks for a dangerous assignment, so the editor sends him to Challenger.

Sir John Roxton, the famous explorer and hunter, also wants to check out Challenger’s dubious story. Challenger has made himself a very public laughing stock with his tales of dinosaurs. Then again, who knows what the Amazon really holds? They meet Professor Summerlee, an insectologist.

Challenger comes on stage, and he plans to go back to the Amazon, to the Lost World, for proof. He asks for volunteers. Roxton and Ed Malone both end up volunteering to go. Challenger takes a bit of convincing to accept a reporter on the journey, but Mrs. Challenger stands up to the old grouch.

Challenger shows Ed the notebook of Maple White, who remained behind on the previous expedition. Paula White was Maple’s daughter, as well as his assistant. She’ll go on the new expedition as well. Ed thinks he can get the newspaper to finance the expedition. Roxton is in love with Paula, but Paula clearly thinks he’s way too old for her.

Next thing you know, they’re in South America on the Amazon River. The five adventurers, along with Jocko the monkey, head off for the Lost World. They pass many strange animals on the route. An ape man drops a boulder to scare them off, and a pterodactyl lands nearby.

They make their way across the chasm and plateau and enter the Lost World while their helpers Austin and Zambo remain behind in camp. Almost immediately, they spot a huge brontosaurus. The brontosaurus destroys their escape route. They watch a vicious allosaurus kill another dinosaur in a bloody battle.

Summerlee loves all the new insects, while the others are terrified of the dinosaurs. The ape man watches from the shadows as Ed climbs a tree to find a safer camping spot. Ruction shoots the ape man before it gets Ed, but the ape-man leaps away, escaping. While he was up there, Ed spotted a nice cave they could move into.

They move into the caves, and Challenger says he will invent an anti-dinosaur weapon. Roxton finds Maple White’s bones— he didn’t survive. Ed and Paula are clearly falling for each other, which disappoints Roxton tremendously, but he’s a good sport about it.

Meanwhile, some other explorers in the jungle below the plateau notice a volcano is getting ready to erupt and could the whole plateau. Down below, Austin, Zambo, and Jocko work on a rope ladder to get the others down from the cliff. Roxton and Paula find a way out through the caves to an opening far above camp, but the others are outside and they don’t know about the volcano danger.

The men outside do see the dinosaurs stampeding away from the approaching lava. Forest fire rages, and the men are cut off from escape by the stampede. Jocko the monkey climbs the cliff face, taking the rope ladder along with him to Paula and Roxton.

Challenger, Summerlee, and Ed finally return to the cave, but they are followed by the ape man. They all descend the rope ladder, but the ape-man makes it pretty tough for the last man down. They shoot the ape man, and he dies this time.

Paula wants to break up with Ed because back in the real world, they both have obligations— him to Gladys, and her to Roxton. Roxton again overhears all this, and he gives her up. The two are free to get together. But Paula sticks with Roxton

Challenger spots a brontosaurus that had fallen off the cliff. Can they get it home alive? Yes. No one’s gonna doubt Professor Challenge now!

Except there’s a slight hitch. The cage broke, and the brontosaurus is now running loose in the streets of London. It eventually falls in the Thames and swims away. Ed connects with his girl who didn’t wait and meets her husband. Oof. Paula finally agrees to leave Roxton and go with Ed.

COMMENTARY

Note: We watched the 2016 reconstruction that combines various film elements that had been missing for decades. Most previous editions of the film were only about an hour in length.

The dinosaur stop-motion animation is actually really smooth even compared to many later films. My assumption is that since