Mocata's Den of Horror

Hammer's classic adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's novel, The Devil Rides Out , is now 50 years old.  Both the book and film tell the story of a group of old friends who deal with a Satanic cult. The novel, first published in 1934, is part of a series based around the character the Duc de Richleau.  The earlier novels in this series deal with an elderly Duc and his adventures with the group of friends featured in The Devil Rides Out , while later on, the novels told about his younger days. Hammer would later adapt another of Wheatley's black magic-themed novels, To the Devil-- a Daughter , with the film differing so far greatly from the source novel that the two are virtually unrelated.  There do still remain a few elements that the film has in common with the novel, but to call this one an adaptation is using the term extremely loosely.  Hammer also adapted one of Wheatley's non-occult oriented tales, Uncharted Seas , as The Lost Continent , but I am focusing on his bl

The Ritual is a Netflix horror film set in the wilderness of Sweden, based upon the novel of the same name by Adam Nevill.  In both book and movie versions, the story follows four old friends hiking out in the middle of nowhere in Sweden, with tension gradually mounting between them and disturbing things start to pop up with greater frequency.  However, the movie version does make some pretty substantial changes from the novel. First off, the movie opens with the four friends plus an additional friend all gathered at a pub, discussing what they should do on their next holiday.  One of them, Rob, suggests hiking in Sweden.  After they leave, another of the group, Luke, wants to stop off and get some booze and Rob goes with him.  As it turns out, a couple of thugs are robbing the store at that time.  Luke manages to hide before the robbers see him, but Rob is caught right in the aisle and is confronted by the thieves, who end up killing him.  Fast forward 6 months and the remaining

Sad news recently, as Killjoy (real name, Frank Pucci), main man of early death metal band Necrophagia, died.  I have been a fan of Necrophagia for years, leading me to also enjoy other bands Killjoy participated in: Wurdulak, The Ravenous, Cabal, Enoch, Haxxan, and others. I am very happy that I had the opportunity to see him with Necrophagia and also got to meet him.  He was quite friendly and Necrophagia put on a great show.  I remember being at the front of the crowd right in front of Killjoy and singing (or growling, I suppose would be more appropriate) parts of the song when Killjoy held the microphone out to me and the guy next to me on multiple occasions (especially during the song "Cannibal Holocaust").  The headliner on that tour was actually 1349, but I was there to see Necrophagia and Necrophagia did not disappoint. Killjoy performing with Necrophagia, 2015 I remember being at the Housecore Horror Festival a few years back and wearing a Necrophagia shirt

Back in January of this year, Dallas Mayr, also known as Jack Ketchum, died.  He was not the most well-known author,  but where his name was known (primarily among horror fans), his reputation was that of a writer who performed literary assaults on his readers' senses and emotions.  He gave the world two of the most legendary, brutal horror novels of the 20th century: Off Season and The Girl Next Door . Off Season was his first novel and despite the fact that the publisher, Ballantine, had required numerous cuts from Mayr to tone down the dark, gruesome, and relentlessly bleak feel of the book, it was a lean, mean, and utterly vicious read.  Not even reaching the 200-page mark, the novel left no room for the literary self-indulgence that seems to plague many novels today, stretching what should be a 250-page story into a bloated 500-page one.  Of course, many years later, Dallas was able to republish the novel in a form more to his liking, known as the Unexpurgated Version, whi

The deranged folks at Severin are at it again.  This time we are talking about Joe D'Amato's morbid classic, Buio Omega, more commonly known in English as Beyond the Darkness or the name I first saw it under on VHS many, many years ago: Buried Alive .   If you have not seen this film, it is a nasty one.  I think at least part of the film's intent was to make its audience sick.  It is gruesome and rather unpleasant in many places, featuring fairly lengthy sequences involving the disposal of a body, the embalming and dressing of another body, plus some good old gory violence.  Add in a classic Goblin score and you have yet another reason that Italian cinema was so wonderful. I got my copy directly from Severin in the Necro Bundle, which features the Blu-Ray with a CD of Goblin's score, along with a reproduction of the theatrical poster Aquarius Releasing made for its release as Buried Alive , a t-shirt, an air freshener, and a pin.  It is a rather nice package,