The Ogre (1987)

AKA: Demons III
Director: Lumberto Bava
Starring: Virginia Bryant, Sabrina Ferilli, Paolo Malco, Patrizio Vinci. Italy. 1h 34m

So many classic horror novels are produced from the bizarre dream of the writer, Frankenstein was a fever dream so powerful that Mary Shelly had to get the essence down on paper in a male dominated world, going against the grain she knew that her unique mix of man playing god and the promise of some dark everlasting life was literary gold. Other writers have often marveled how they bring their nightmares and dreams to live in their writing and films, which is the premise of this scrawny horror. Made for TV in the mid 80’s there’s a lot of 70’s backlash in this Bava effort, which made up a trilogy of direct to video/tv film series.

The Kindred (1987)

Director:Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter.
Starring: Amanda Pays, Talia Balsam, Kim Hunter, Rod Steiger, David Allen Brooks .USA. 1h 32m

80’s horror will always be remembered for being gutsy and it really liked to spill those guts all over the screen, This film is mild i some respects as it tries to build a respectable story but as the monster is slowly revealed there’s healthy lashings of tentacles and slime but without much actual blood, a strange combination that remains interesting but is noticeably lacking all the right ingredients to make it a stand out from all the other films of the era.

A brilliant scientist Amanda Hollins (Hunter) awakes from a coma and informs her equally brilliant son (Brooks) that he must destroy her journals and her final experiment aka his brother, bewildered he arranges to take his research staff and his girlfriend out to his mother’s house to carry out her request but soon she dies, unknown to him she’s killed by a rival (mad) scientist Dr. Phillip Lloyd (Steiger), who can’t be trusted around small animals and to be honest I wouldn’t trust him with kids either, but he’s desperate to find out what Amanda has been up to.

Creeping Garden (2014)

Director: Tim Grabham, Jasper Sharp
Starring: Slime Mould, Mark Pragnell, Tim Boon, Heather Barnett, UK 1h 21m

This full length documentary is a striking creature feature detailing the exploration of a common yet wildly unseen mould, now seen through the eyes of scientist, mycologists and artists who have invested huge amounts of time in studying the unusual plasmodial slime mould. Starting with the history and covering the amateur scientist who identified and documented it’s existence, the film gives insights into Victorian scientific methods and how slides were incorporated as evening entertainment.  In modern times things are a little bit more unconventional and verges on science fiction as the seemingly inert plant controls a basic robot around a workshop floor, it’s predatory habits can be used to help people find water or a fire exit quicker and it’s motion and design influences visual and audible art.