Horror Bulletin Monthly January 2024: Horror Bulletin Monthly Issues, #28

By Brian Schell

The newest issue of the Horror Bulletin Monthly includes reviews of everything we reviewed last month-- a film each day! This month, we covered most of the December new releases, some excellent, some stinkers. As always, we looked at our usual variety of old and new 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.

 

Movie Reviews

1935 The Mystery of the Mary Celeste
1954 Rear Window
1958 Macabre
1963 King Kong vs. Godzilla
1964 Onibaba
1965 Repulsion
1972 Gargoyles
1984 Sole Survivor
1985 Demons
1990 Fertilize the Blaspheming Bombshell!
2004 Saw
2005 Saw Il
2006 Saw Ill
2007 Saw IV
2008 The Burrowers
2009 Open Graves
2011 Hostel: Part III
2013 The Conspiracy
2017 Euthanizer
2020 Hunter Hunter
2023 Megalomaniac
2023 Perpetrator
2023 Reflect
2023 Satan Wants You
2023 Summoning Sylvia
2003 The Bone Snatcher
2023 The Breach
2023 Totally Killer

 

Short Film Reviews

2021 Short Film: Ancient Voice
2023 Short Film: El Monstruo
2022 Short Film: Wicca Book

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Schell
• Release date: Jan 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224878345

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

PART ONE

MOVIE REVIEWS

1935 THE MYSTERY OF THE MARY CELESTE

AKA Phantom Ship

Directed by Denison Clift

Written by Denison Clift, Charles Larkworthy

Stars Bela Lugosi, Shirley Grey, Arthur Margetson

Run Time: 1 Hour, 2 Minutes

Watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDMsOZKtLWE

SPOILER-FREE JUDGMENT ZONE

This takes a real-life mystery that is still not really solved to this day and gives it a possible explanation. It was well made, entertaining, and heavy on the drama but plausible.

SPOILERY SYNOPSIS

We are told that the story is based on the real-life disappearance of the passengers of the ship Mary Celeste in 1872, which to this day has never been explained.

Captain Benjamin Briggs orders Bilson to load 1,700 barrels of alcohol onto the ship. He says there’ll be no drinking or cursing on this trip as the captain is bringing his wife, Sarah, on board. She’ll be the only woman on a shipful of men. She mentions that his friend, Captain Jim Morehead, has also asked for her to marry him. Jim comes in, and it’s all very awkward. Jim was willing to give up the sea and buy a shop, but Ben never would.

Anton Lorenzen comes into the bar and orders a whiskey for ten cents. He gives Jack a sob story, and Jack thought he was dead. He looks so much older now and doesn’t have a cent. He says he was shanghaied a few years ago and just wants to forget it.

Ben comes into Jack’s place and offers him five dollars a head for a crew– shanghaied or not. He Volunteers Hoffman, Harbens, Gillings, Tom, and Charlie. He promises to send over three more men later.

Ben’s ready to cast off and sends Bilson to get the other three men. Jack offers to let Anton go, and when Anton hears that Bilson is the mate, he gets really angry and insists on going. He boards and gets ready for departure. There’s still one man short, and Ben borrows Grot from Captain Jim. Jim talks to Grot and suggests that something might happen to Ben on this voyage. He’s just sayin’...

Bilson wakes up a few sleeping men who have been Shanghaied, and there’s a quick fight before they go to work. Grot complains that the food has worms in it, and Ben and Bilson teach the man a lesson. It’s all very upsetting for Sarah.

Grot makes a move, but Ben is fine. Ben orders Grot thrown overboard. He wants to know what it is with the men that Grot would do that. Bilson tries throwing Anton’s cat overboard, but Anton wrestles him.

Ben works the night shift in a storm that night, and Tom Goodschild lets himself in with Sarah. Anton catches him in the act and fights him off. Ben and Katz come in, and Anton feels terrible for killing the man. They bury the man in the morning.

That night, they find Hoffman dead of a knife wound. Ben doesn’t want to upset anyone and throws him overboard.

Ben and Sarah have some alone time in his cabin, but someone points a revolver through the window and shoots at him. Ben checks Bilson’s gun, and it hasn’t been fired. He questions the men, but no one has a gun.

Anton calls Ben; he’s found another body. Duggan is dead, murdered. Gillings is dead too. Mr. Tooley finds Gillings’s body and jumps to his death off the main mast.

Anton talks to Sarah about his own hard luck case and all about death ships. He tells how a shark bit off his arm while he was being keel-hauled. Later that night, someone kills Harbens. Ben and Sarah have gone missing as well.

There are only three men left. Anton, Bilson, and Katz. Katz goes after Bilson, but Bilson shoots Katz. Now it’s just the two men, and Bilson wants to get good and drunk. Bilson wants to loot the cash box and sell all the alcohol before moving to China.

Anton says his name is not Gottlieb, it’s Lorenzen. He pulls a pistol on Bilson, who recognizes the name. He was Shanghaied on this ship six years ago– by Bilson. He admits killing Ben and Sarah, but Bilson is the one he really wants revenge on. Anton shoots Bilson and throws him overboard to the sharks.

Anton roars with laughter. He then gets confused and searches the ship for Bilson. He eventually jumps or falls overboard.

The Mary Celeste comes into port, but there’s no one on board. No one at all. Where did everyone go? It’s a mystery!

COMMENTARY

Shanghaied = Nobody wants to work anymore. This is a seriously hostile work environment with toxic management.

I don’t think cargo ships of the 1800s had staterooms big enough for a piano and a sewing machine.

Lugosi is very quiet here. He’s expressive but his accent keeps him from delivering great lines. We know from the beginning that he wants to go on this voyage, probably for revenge, but he also seems far too reasonable to be the murderer.

It moves fast. There are a lot of killings, mostly off-screen, so the crew narrows down quickly. It’s pretty entertaining.

1954 REAR WINDOW

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Written by John Michael Hayes, Cornell Woolrich

Stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey

Run Time: 1 Hour, 52 Minutes

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m01YktiEZCw

SPOILER-FREE JUDGMENT ZONE

This was a fun classic to watch. It’s Hitchcock, the master of slow build tension, which steadily climbs through the movie. The set is impressive in size and complexity, considering it was all indoors in a studio. It’s a thriller with low-key horror and worth the watch if you haven’t seen it.

SYNOPSIS

As the credits roll, we get a view from a window looking out at… more windows. The camera eventually zooms around to the fire escapes, ladders, and windows, so we get a good idea of the setting.

We come back to see L. B. Jeffries, sweating in his apartment, which is excruciatingly hot; some neighbors are sleeping outside on their balconies. He’s a professional photographer, but he’s stuck inside with a broken leg in a cast, at least until next Wednesday. He watches the hot woman across the courtyard doing her exercises in a bikini. He’s got nothing to do but watch the neighbors.

Stella comes in and chides him for being a peeping Tom. She’s an insurance company nurse. She says he’s gonna see things he shouldn’t see and get into trouble. They talk about Lisa Fremont, his wanna-be girlfriend; he thinks she’s too good for him.

That evening, Lisa comes over for a visit. She’s wearing a $1,100 dress; she’s a very successful model, and she’s brought him a catered dinner. He watches a woman across the courtyard have a pretend date all by herself.

Jeffries points out Miss Torso, a ballet dancer, a young woman with many suitors. The two imagine what the busy woman is feeling.

Lisa wants Jeffries to settle down, but he’s a globetrotter who loves to travel for his photography. Neither of them is likely to change, and he thinks they should break up. She gets angry and leaves.

Later that night, Jeffries hears a woman screaming somewhere, but he doesn’t see anything. He watches one man come and go several times throughout the night; he’s a salesman, but what would he be doing out so late? What’s in his sample case? He goes to sleep and doesn’t see the man leave again, this time alongside a woman.

Jeffries gets some binoculars to watch more closely. He then upgrades to a telephoto lens on his camera. He sees that the man has a huge saw and machete, but his nagging wife has seemingly vanished. Could he possibly have– no!

Jeffries concludes, There’s something terribly wrong. He wonders how someone would even begin to cut up a human body, and Lisa thinks maybe he’s losing his mind being cooped up for weeks. They both watch the man packing something into a huge crate; Lisa is now on board with the not-so-crazy theory.

Lisa checks out the man’s mailbox and says the man’s name is Lars Thorwald. Jeffries calls his friend, the detective, Tom Doyle, to come over and check out the situation. The next morning, Stella’s thrilled to hear about the excitement. They watch as Thorwald pays some men to carry the trunk away.

Doyle comes over and verifies that Jeffries hasn’t actually seen a murder or a body. Still, he offers to look into things. Doyle finds out that the wife left while Jeffries was asleep. Jeffries still wants Doyle to search the man’s apartment, but that’s against the rules. There’s even a postcard sent by the man’s wife. Case closed.

Maybe not. Jeffries watches Mr. Thorwald come home with some laundry. He watches the man dig through his wife’s purse and find a wedding band inside. He packs up for a trip, but when he leaves, he doesn’t take anything with him.

Lisa comes by again, and they talk about Mr. Thorwald. Lisa thinks the woman everyone saw leaving Thorwald’s apartment wasn’t his wife, at least not yet. Doyle stops by and gets updated on what’s been going on. Doyle says Lars Thorwald is no murderer; there’s no case.

Jeffries wonders about how ethical it is to watch a man with binoculars and a telephoto lens. There’s a scream, and the little dog we’ve seen several times is dead with his neck broken. Everyone comes out to hear the woman screaming about the dog. That dog had been digging in one spot where Thorwald had been digging. Also, he’s the only one who doesn’t come to the window to hear about the dog. What could Thorwald have buried there?

Jeffries addresses a note to Thorwald, What have you done with her? and Lisa slips it under his door. They look up Thorwald’s