The films on this website are all essential additions to
anyone's Weird and unusual section of their DVD collection.
From a young age I was always fascinated by films which were a
little bit different - ones which made a lasting impression and
from which scenes could be brought back into the mind more or
less complete - many years later.
I am not talking about shock value here - modern cinema techniques have enabled these to be done to the point where shock itself is hard to come by and movie goers often require a strong stomach rather than well trained attention to be able to sit through one of the more recent offerings to the end. Most of the films on the site are fairly old but I have attempted to include those which have not unduly dated and are still worth watching today.
I am not talking about shock value here - modern cinema techniques have enabled these to be done to the point where shock itself is hard to come by and movie goers often require a strong stomach rather than well trained attention to be able to sit through one of the more recent offerings to the end. Most of the films on the site are fairly old but I have attempted to include those which have not unduly dated and are still worth watching today.
For every movie in the collection I have rejected several others. The Incredible Two Headed Transplant has broken the rules in that it can hardly be considered up to the standard of the others but has been included for sentimental reasons.
My main regret (and reason for the site) is that the horror/weird genre has altered beyond recognition since the golden age which to me is somewhere prior to 1971. Slash and gore has been used to shock and replace a good script, direction and actors. My own measure for this is the film The Exorcist. Although it used a well tried formula of possession, it introduce elements of unnecessarily gratuitous pornography (witness the crucifix scene). Once opened, Pandora's box has remained well and truly ajar. Nowadays the genre is used as an excuse to show torture and extreme pain - not what a good horror film should be about. The humour that was present in such films as Tales of Terror has been replaced by crudity and a lack of subtlety which tends to treat the audience as little better that ignorant idiots.
The likes of Vincent Price and Peter Lorre will not be seen again. Their humour has been replaced with sly nods to previous set pieces in today's films. That isn't funny - just an attempt to be clever. That is why there are few films on this site prior to 1971 but the ones that are have justified their places by adhering to the same high standards as the films of the golden age.
On each page you will have the facility to purchase the film through my links to Amazon.