Tag: norman j. warren

Inseminoid (1981)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

Okay, so maybe last week I closed out one tradition on this site, but I still have a lot more that I can draw from!

That’s what’s up this week as, yet again, it’s time to check out a Norman J. Warren joint!  This week’s movie is one that I often see a lot of negativity float about on social media sites and groups I belong to.  I don’t care, I think this is a perfect example of the strangeness in one of Warren’s movies.  I’m going to talk about Inseminoid.

But, here’s the deal.  This movie is actually quite well liked in a few circles.  First and foremost, it impressed Roger Corman who nearly hired Warren for movies he was producing.  It was made on a shoestring budget, but that actually works in its favor as the cave where they filmed the scenes for the scientists doing their excavation produced the perfect effect Warren wanted.  He also got a boost when the famed Shaw Brothers from Hong Kong provided half the budget.  It was a little bit of a tortured set though.  The cave provided little light and air, and it would often be damp and cause quite a few injuries to cast and crew.  On top of that, Robin Clarke, an American actor cast as one of the more important roles, didn’t get along with Norman.  The two clashed often. Continue reading “Inseminoid (1981)” →

Satan’s Slave (1976)

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Well hey there!  It’s another Norman J. Warren joint!

If you’ve been around the site for a while, you know I’m a fan.  Prey is a good little home invasion story that is wrapped up in an alien invasion story – that also features lesbians.  Terror is a fun supernatural flick that has a vengeful witch – that may or may not have included a near miss for a fat guy on a train to have sex with a really pretty British lady.  Bloody New Year is just…  Well, it’s just bonkers, silly fun – that also happens to include an experimental plane that broke time and space.

Satan’s Slave is the first horror film that Warren made that pre-dates all of the above mentioned greatest hits.  As it turns out, it’s not the first of his films I covered in 2020 and it won’t be the last.  That said, I should maybe hold up because I’m quickly running out of his movies! Continue reading “Satan’s Slave (1976)” →

Bloody New Year (1987)

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Happy Bloody New Year (a few days late), my Enemaniacs!

You might be wondering, “Geoff, what’s up with all this festive cheer and shit?”  Well, don’t worry, fellas and lady fellas…  I just had to clear some slates before I got buried beneath a load of movies I always want to write about but don’t have a particularly perfect timing to do so.  Besides, this does check a couple extra boxes for me:

  1. Another Vinegar Syndrome release
  2. Another Norman J. Warren joint

So yeah, as you might have picked up by reading this blog over the past couple years, I buy a TON of Vinegar Syndrome releases.  They are a marvelous purveyor of cult classics, nearly forgotten gems, and exploitation.  These are things I am particularly in favor of.  So I had to help clear some of that backlog before I can get to some of the other finds I’ve picked up at various conventions and what have you. Continue reading “Bloody New Year (1987)” →

Prey (1977)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

It’s time to get back into the works of one Norman J. Warren.

Think back to earlier this year when I discussed the movie Terror.  This was about a witch cursing a family that ultimately leads to both cousins having to deal with some freaky shit around them.  This time around, we don’t have a set of long-lost cousins, but instead with Prey, we have a pair of lesbians that live in a remote area of England dealing with an alien with a voracious hunger.

Now, when I intro-ed Terror, I made some observations about Warren’s work.  Specifically, I wanted to call out certain ideas that he would have and then mix them with other ideas to create this very strange mixture of characters or situations for his movies.  In fact, allow me to quote myself from that article: Continue reading “Prey (1977)” →

Terror (1978)

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Let’s talk about Norman J. Warren.

He’s someone who I’ve yet to really feature on this blog, but I will be correcting that big time from this point forward.  He’s a British filmmaker who was always into the movies growing up.  His films were often deemed part of British “New Wave” Horror.  Basically, taking what Amicus and Hammer did with sexuality and gore and pushing it a little further for the end of the 70s and beginning of the 80s.

His movies are really interesting – and, in my opinion, actually fascinating and fun to watch, if not good.  He seems to have ideas, even if what he starts with isn’t that groundbreaking.  Want to tell a ghost story?  Well, he’ll tweak it here and there and include a time element and give you Bloody New Year.  Want to tell a story about an alien coming to Earth?  Well, how about we throw in abuse and a lesbian couple and a sinister reason for the alien to be here and give you Prey.  How about yet another alien story, but this time include impregnation and have the mother of the new alien/human hybrid become murderously protective of the monster?  Yeah, we’ll call that Inseminoid. Continue reading “Terror (1978)” →