Reviews (200)

One of the best classic horror films of all time.
My opinion of this movie, The Birds, is that it is a masterpiece of it's own time. This was a great piece of classic horror; Alfred Hitchcock did a fantastic job. The special effects were very believeable, especially for coming from the early sixties. I still haven't figured out how they got all of those birds to attack, or if half of them were fake. Also, Hitchcock did a great job of showing blood and gore when it was qppropriate, like when Jessica Tandy as Lydia Brenner finds Lonny Chapman as Deke Carter with his eyes pecked out. The movie did, however, lack music so this made it kind of drag along. Music would have paced the movie, and also added suspense and other effects. Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels was a bad actress. She showed no real emotion and always seemed to be worried about her appearance instead of her acting. I really noticed this in the bedroom scene, when she was being attacked, and she didn't even scream. Rod Taylor, who played the role of Mitch Brenner, was a great actor. He seemed real and Believable. He showed emotion in every scene, and his overall performance was pleasant. Jessica Tandy is great in all the films she is in, and this one was no exception. As Lydia Brenner, she did a great job of acting rude and mean to Melanie Daniels through out the whole movie. I was, however, very annoyed with the young actress that played Cathy Brenner. She was a horrible actress with over-elaborate emotional breakouts, and when she cried after she was attacked, it was so annoying, I thought my ears were bleeding. The ending to the film was very bland. There should have been more closure to the whole situation instead of just making you wonder what happened to them. The Birds is nothing like modern day horror films. It takes a more believeable line to horror than most modern day films. Modern horror consists mostly of the supernatural or total carnage. Although I would still put The Birds into a category with any modern day horror flicks, I still believe that it is definitely classic horror.

A nightmare comes to life - thanks to Hitchcock!
Although Alfred Hitchcock is widely regarded as the greatest director of suspense and "thriller" movies in Hollywood's long history, in his direction of "The Birds" (1963), he outdoes himself. Even more than "Psycho", which started the modern "slice-and-dice" genre of horror movies, "The Birds" is a truly disturbing and surreal experience - a nightmare which comes to life on film. In my opinion "The Birds" is unlike any other Hitchcock film - it actually comes closer to movies such as "The Sixth Sense" or even "The Matrix" in the way it takes the "real world" we are all familiar and comfortable with and turns it into something that will cause you to lose sleep at night. The film's plot is deceptively simple: Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), a rich and rather spoiled young woman, meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), a handsome and rather mysterious man, in a pet store in San Francisco. She is intrigued enough to follow him to his home in Bodega Bay, a charming but isolated small fishing town on the northern California coast. There she meets the local schoolteacher, Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), who once had a brief affair with Mitch. Annie takes an immediate dislike to Melanie and her interest in Annie's old boyfriend. Eventually Melanie meets Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy), a high-strung and suspicious woman who leans upon her son for emotional support and stability. However, this soap-opera style plotline is simply the background for the REAL story in the movie: as the film progresses the birds in Bodega Bay and the surrounding countryside begin to act strangely - they suddenly attack humans for no apparent reason, and start gathering in large and ominous groups on power lines and rooftops. Eventually the birds become murderous - they kill a local farmer by crashing through his bedroom window and hacking out his eyes. Then they attack the schoolchildren and the townspeople in yet another of Hitchcock's famous film sequences. As the frightened and baffled townsfolk are hemmed into their homes and stores like "birds in a cage", they blame Melanie for bringing this terror into their once-peaceful little town. The film's famous climax occurs at the home of Mitch and his mother, as a massive flock of birds attacks the home at night and tries to get inside to kill our heroes. To make this film even more disturbing and bizzare, Hitchcock decided not to have a musical score, and there is no music whatsoever - only the terrifying screeching of the birds as they attack. What makes this film work is how Hitchcock deftly takes "everyday", normal things - such as sitting on a park bench and smoking a cigarette, and turns it into something bizarre, surreal, and truly frightening. Although some critics have refused to label this film as one of Hitchcock's best, it does rank as one of the scariest thrillers of all time. Beware of "The Birds"! (But you'll love the movie).

Beware THE BIRDS!!!
The Birds is one of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock films. Perhaps that has a lot to do with the beautiful Tippi Hedren, who shines in everything she does. The gorgeous scenery, adorable costumes, and lavish colors also add to the surreal atmosphere, which quickly gets disrupted by a flock of killer birds. Like many firsts Hitchcock introduced with his films, this is the first "nature run amock" film, just like Psycho was the first "slasher" film. This Psycho follow-up was yet another ground-breaking addition to the horror genre and further revealed the master director's darker obsessions.

Like Hitchcock's fabulous Rebecca and mediocre Jamaica Inn, this is based on a story by the extremely talented Daphne Du Maurier, but Hitchcock was left with the task of fleshing out the short story into a feature film. He did one hell of a job. Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter borrowed only the title and basic conceit of Daphne du Maurier's 1952 short story, "The Birds." Du Maurier's tale, conventional and utterly humorless, is a Cold War parable that uses the unexplained bird attacks as an apocalyptic metaphor for nature thrown out of balance by technology and warfare. It's told from the perspective of Nat Hocken, a disabled war veteran and farmhand living in a cottage with his family in the British Isles.

The film version is set in Bodega Bay and follows bored, spoiled socialite Melanie Daniels (Hedren) as she romantically pursues dashing lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor). Tension soon develops among Melanie, schoolteacher Annie Hayworth, Mitch's former flame (Suzanne Pleshette), and Mitch's domineering mother (Jessica Tandy). The emotional interplay is interrupted (and reflected) by the sudden and unexplained attack of thousands of birds on the area.

Hailed as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces by some and despised by others, THE BIRDS is certainly among the director's more complex and fascinating works. Volumes have been written about the film, with each writer picking it apart scene by scene in order to prove his or her particular critical theory--mostly of the psychoanalytic variety. Be that as it may, even those who grow impatient with the slow build-up or occasional dramatic lapses cannot deny the terrifying power of many of the film's haunting images: the bird point-of-view shot of Bodega Bay, the birds slowly gathering on the playground monkey bars, the attack on the children's birthday party, Melanie trapped in the attic, and the final ambiguous shot of the defeated humans leaving Bodega Bay while the thousands of triumphant birds gathered on the ground watch them go.

Eerie, scary, and suspenseful, this is a great film and classic Hitchcock, which highlights his genius. There is no sound track to cue the audience in as to when to be scared. And what other filmmaker could take the simple sound of wings fluttering in a house and turn it into the sheer sound of terror?

Hitchcook can make anything scary.
Hitchcook can make anything scary, and this movie is profff, I don't no how fake birds can be scary but they are, in this film anyway.

It all starts with an opener that's more like 2 people trying to play a joke on eatchother, and ends with a tailhanger ending, paked with scares and creeps this is a must see.

Tense thriller is a winner
This eerie Hitchcock thriller doesn't have a shower scene but is has its fair share of suspense, dread and anticipation as to when the birds will attack. Filmed in color and without the accompaniment of music, the movie builds steadily towards tense and dangerous moments when hundreds of blackbirds swoop down on the human populace and scratch, peck and claw them to shreds without rhyme or reason. Even a lone seagull gets in its licks on Melanie Daniels who has followed Mitch Brenner to Bodega Bay to close in on the handsome fellow. The film has several attacks in which adults and school children are ravaged, and the air assaults are frightening to watch. The dangerous birds' unexplained sheer destructive force is displayed in the attack in a bedroom where the unfortunate Ms. Daniels is trapped, and their determination to destroy every human in their path is awful to behold. The movie's special effects are first-rate, and the gloomy, overcast skies of the Northern California coast add to the depressed mood of the film. The characters all seemed detached and distant from each other and although Ms. Daniels tries very hard to connect with Mr. Brenner, the romance angle is never developed. ... Read more

Amazon.com

At last--a great American movie available on video for the first time in its original aspect ratio. For all the slasher pictures that have ripped off Psycho (and particularly its classic set piece, the "shower scene"), nothing has ever matched the impact of the real thing. More than just a first-rate shocker full of thrills and suspense, Psycho is also an engrossing character study in which director Alfred Hitchcock skillfully seduces you into identifying with the main characters--then pulls the rug (or the bathmat) out from under you. Anthony Perkins is unforgettable as Norman Bates, the mama's boy proprietor of the Bates Motel; and so is Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, who makes an impulsive decision and becomes a fugitive from the law, hiding out at Norman's roadside inn for one fateful night. Psycho gets the masterpiece treatment it deserves on DVD, with extras including newsreel footage surrounding the making and release of the movie; an archive of production stills; the special trailer in which Hitchcock (acting as one of the original Universal Studio tour guides) himself leads viewers around the Bates place; credit designer Saul Bass's original "shower scene" story boards; posters and advertising materials for the movie's William Castle-like publicity campaign (No One Will Be Seated After the Feature Begins!); and a 90-minute documentary on the making of the film! What more could any movie fan possibly want? --Jim Emerson ... Read more

Reviews (319)

Hitchcock's Finest Film
Its amazing how still to this day, a movie made 40 years ago can continue to still scare you every time you view it. But thats exactly what Psycho does. The film never has a dull moment, and all its infamous scenes are just as startling as they were back in 1960. The story revolves around Marion Crane, searching to leave the big city, and live the american dream, she steals 40,000 dollars and travels to the outskirts of California. Along the way, she starts going a little paranoid after her boss sees her leaving the city, and she is chased by a local police officer. Overwhelmed by these feelings and the weather, she stops at the Bates Motel. The hotel, run by young Norman (Anthony Perkins in his finest role) has 12 open rooms. From here, the story starts to pick up. If you have never seen any scenes from Psycho, than the suprise you have will be amazing. There are plenty of plot twists and edge-of-your-seat moments. Hitchcocks directing is a high note. Just look at the scene between Marion and Norman in his parlor. The dialoug is great, directing is great and the acting is great. A all around great movie, and Hitchcocks best.

Don't Go Psycho after Watching "Psycho"
Director Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "Psycho" kept me at the edge of my seat throughout this classic thriller. Although the movie is in black and white, Hitchcock uses other special effects to add excitement. Not only that, but his wise choice of actors made the film that much more enjoyable. They portrayed the characters just as Hitchcock wanted them to. At the beginning of the movie, the plot is shifted in many directions. Hitchcock did an extraordinary job adding many twists into the story. "Psycho" is a famous, classical horror movie that will be a popular movie for many years to come.
Hitchcock knew what he was doing when he chose the characters that he did. Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates, used the perfect facial expressions and tone of voice to keep you guessing his innocence or guilt. When the investigator comes to his tiny, in-the-middle-of-nowhere hotel looking for Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), Perkins is nervous and stutters a lot. This suspicion leads you to believe he might have something to do with the disappearance of Marion, but in your head you're portraying Perkins as this nice, innocent hotel owner with great hospitality. Throughout the movie in many different scenes, Perkins uses very meaningful, evil, and friendly facial expressions that especially play out Bates' character. When Bates' is watching Marion through the window, you get the feeling that Bates' has something evil planned, but murder is not what jumped to my head right away.
Janet Leigh was another great actress for Hitchcock's film. She is a petite, vulnerable character that is marvelous for the role of a devious, suspicious blonde on the run with $40,000. I think Hitchcock knew what he was doing when he asked Leigh to be in his movie. It adds a whole other twist to the storyline.
The special effects make the movie outstanding all by themselves. One thing that really stands out in my mind is the soundtrack. The music adds to the horror and suspense of it all. Hitchcock selected music that terrifies you even if you weren't even looking at the screen. It really draws you into the scene like you're witnessing things firsthand.
Throughout the movie, the lighting and camera angles draw you in even more. Hitchcock uses outstanding shadows on the faces of the characters, and adds a dark, eerie glow to the dark nights at Bates' Motel. I especially liked the camera angles during the shower scene. Hitchcock zooms in really close, once again inviting the audience to be a part of the scene.
At the beginning of the movie, Marion Crane is with her boyfriend Sam, at a cheap motel over their lunch break. Unable to get married because Sam is still paying alimony to his ex-wife, Marion is drawn in to the perfect opportunity: She is trusted with $40,000 in which her boss orders her to take it to the bank at the end of the day. Instead, Marion flees the town to Sam's home in another town.
Tired from driving almost all through the night in a heavy rainstorm, Marion sees a hotel off the main highway and decides to stop. Here, she meets Norman Bates, the owner of the hotel. Being the nice hotel clerk that he appears to be, Norman offers Marion a late supper. She complies, and patiently waits for his return. In the meantime, she overhears Norman in an argument with his mother. This adds yet another twist in Hitchcock's film. After dinner, Marion tells Norman she wants to get cleaned up and get a good night's sleep, so he leaves, only to return later, leaving the audience in total shock after what comes next....
I think "Psycho" is an excellent horror film that will scare many viewers right out of the shower after watching it. Its constant mysteries and plot twists keep you thinking all the time. Although it may be quite gruesome, Hitchcock's film remains on my list for scariest movies of all time!

Not his BEST, but FULL of exciting scenes
I`ve seen this film numerous times and I have always found it a bit cold, made without passion. Sure the shower-scene in particular is a mind-blower, but Hitchcock was much better off in the suspense-genre... This story simply isn`t interesting enough. It reason may be that it always had a GREAT reputation and everyone who ever saw it knew if by heart and thus destroyed the first viewing of others... Another factor is that Janet Leigh is much 2 pretty and ladylike for her role. When I saw Anne Heche in the 1998 movie I realised that H E R Marion was indeed a low-life, tramp - sort of - who jumped at the chance of doing something stupid 2 her employer. Janet Leigh`s Marion is never at any moment stupid... Alas, Anne was much more satisfying, as were Viggo Mortensen and Julianne Moore.

John Gavin and Vera Miles are lifeless - cardboard stereotypes and that leaves us only with Martin Balsam and the great Anthony Perkins. THEY breath life into their characters and are the main reason I like this version. William Macy and Vince Vaughn repeated their roles, but eh..... hehehehe???????? Let there be silence. In 1983, Perkins reprised his role as Norman Bates to even better effect in the splendid PSYCHO II.

Mother says, "Watch this movie, or else!"
I don't know why it took me so long to review this film. Perhaps I've been extremely busy, but this creepy and memorable piece of cinema came into my mind a few days ago, and I haven't seen it in YEARS! Unsurprisingly though, I remember everything about it, as if I saw it yesterday. That's one of the many impacts PSYCHO has, no matter how many times it's viewed. (Just for the record, mine is three so far, which includes a USC screening with Hitchcock's own daughter and granddaughter providing a Q&A afterward.)

The master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock has outdone himself with this brilliant masterpiece. It's a taut, suspenseful little tale that paved the way for other thrillers and provided many firsts in cinema-

1) It was the first slasher film, EVER! Without PSYCHO, there would be no BLACK CHRISTMAS, no HALLOWEEN, no FRIDAY THE 13th, no SCREAM, etc. That's right folks, PSYCHO is the granddaddy of the slasher pic.

2) It was the first movie to show a woman (Janet Leigh) in just a bra and slip, an aspect used very cleverly by Hitchcock. In the opening scene, Marion Crane is wearing a white bra because Alfred Hitchcock wanted to show her as being "angelic". After she has taken the money, the following scene has her in a black bra because now she has done something wrong and evil. Similarly, before she steals the money, she has a white purse; after she's stolen the money, she carries a black one.

3) It was the first movie to show a flushing toilet on camera. This is a must know for any film buff.

Yup, PSYCHO did all those first. Learn it, live it, love it.

Anyway....Alfred Hitchcock anonymously bought the rights to Robert Bloch's great novel, for just $9,000. He then bought up as many copies of the novel as he could to keep the ending a secret. That's one of many things that made him so great. Hitchcock did take liberties when having the novel (which was more graphic) adapted, but they all work well. In Bloch's novel, Norman Bates is short, fat, older, and very dislikable. It was Hitchcock who decided to have him be young, handsome, and sympathetic. Norman is also more of a main character in the novel. The story opens with him and Mother fighting rather than following Marion from the start. I think that's one of the many reasons PSYCHO works so well. It also shocked audiences when Janet Leigh, who was advertized as the star, bit the dust a mere 50 minutes into the film. (SCREAM used this tactic by offing Drew Barrymore less than 15 minutes into the picture.)

The picture is filmed in black and white because Alfred Hitchcock believed the movie would be too gory for color. That adds to the creepiness and makes the film more effective, as the horrible colored remake proved.

A brilliant and much duplicated score by Hermann Bernard adds to the atmosphere and builds the suspense. Hitchcock originally envisioned the shower sequence as completely silent, but Bernard Herrmann went ahead and scored it anyway and Hitch immediately changed his mind. I couldn't imagine the movie any other way.

However, what makes PSYCHO truly immortal, when so many films are already half-forgotten, is that it connects directly with our innermost fears: Our fears that we might impulsively commit a crime, our fears of the police, our fears of becoming the victim of a madman, and of course our fears of disappointing our mothers.

Speaking of mothers, you wouldn't want to disappoint Norma Bates would you? I thought not, so see the film, before you make mother really angry....

Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock is definitely the most legendery film director of all time. His work is beyond amazing, without a doubt. Psycho is among the many greats of Alfred Hitchcock and will remain a classic.

Starting off in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday, December 11th, 1960. The beautiful MARION CRANE (played by Janet Leigh) has rented a posh hotel room with her boyfriend, SAM LOOMIS (played by John Gavin), during her lunchbreak. Marion has to get back to work, while Sam has to get back to Fairvelle. Marion gets back to work a little late, but lucks out in knowing that her boss, GEORGE LOWERY (played by Vaughn Taylor) is late himself, for he is in a meeting. In comes George Lowery, following a businessman named, Tom Cassidy (played by Frank Albertson). He walks over to Marion and begins telling her about his 18-year old daughter tying the knot. He hands Marion $40,000, the money Mr. Cassidy will be using to buy his daughter a house as a wedding present. George invites Tom into his office and tells Marion to bank the $40,000 until the following Monday. Marion asks George for permission to take the rest of the day off because of her supposed headache and goes on her way.

While in her bedroom, Marion packs a suitcase and changes clothes. She so temptingly stares at the $40,000 and tries to restrain herself, but not for long, for, in one quick movement, she steals the $40,000 and heads out to her car. Seems as though that Marion is on her way to Fairvelle to see Sam. While at a red light, she notices George crossing in front of her. Unfortunately, he notices Marion, but Marion, as worried as she is about having being noticed, continues on her way. She drives into dusk until pulling over to sleep. The next morning, Marion is awakened by a suspicious cop. She nervously talks to the cop and goes on her way, as the cop follows her. She pulls into a dealership and requests to trade in her car for another. She makes her decision rather quickly and pays for it with her car, plus $700.

She drives on her through the morning, afternoon, and into dusk. Suddenly, it's starts to storm. She gets off a main road and finds The Bates Motel sitting quietly off the highway as if it were hidden from it. She gets out and sees nobody in the office. She looks up and finds a sinister looking house and notices, through a window, an elderly woman walking about. She beeps her car horn until someone comes running out. He finally comes to Marion's aide and takes her inside. The man who took Marion inside the office is NORMAN BATES (played by Anthony Perkins), a seemingly-sweet young man, who owns both the house and motel. He checks Marion in to cabin No. 1 because 'it's closer in case you want anything'. Marion says she wants sleep more than anything, except maybe some food. Norman invites her to the house for some sandwiches. As he goes off to make the sandwiches, Marion hears a woman, viciously yelling at Norman. The woman is the elderly woman Marion saw and it turns out that the woman is Norman's mother. Norman yells back and comes back into Marion's room. The two have supper in Norman's polar, which is located in the back of the office. The polar is decorated with stuffed birds. Turns out that Norman's hobby is taxidermy. They have a brief conversation, leading to Marion wanting to get some sleep. She goes off into her cabin and gets ready to take a shower. She steps in and begins washing herself. While in the middle of her shower, the curtain opens to reveal a dark figure of an elderly woman. Marion turns around and screams in fright as she is murdered in cold blood. The woman disappears and Norman comes in to erase the crime.

A week later, a young woman runs into Sam Loomis' store and demands to talk to Sam. Sam comes out and walks over to the young woman. The young woman is LILA CRANE (played by Vera Miles), Marion's curious sister. She tells Sam what Marion had done the Friday before. As Sam and Lila are talking about it, a private investigator by the name of MILTON ARBOGAST (played by Martin Balsam) comes in and begins talking to Sam and Lila about Marion. He goes off to investigate and comes across Norman and The Bates Motel. He questions Norman, but claims that Marion stayed overnight and left early the next morning. Arbogast then sees Norman's mother and asks to question her, but Norman refuses. Arbogast calls Lila and Sam, gives them the news and goes into the house to question Norman's mother, only to be killed by her.

Lila and Sam have been waiting for Arbogast to return for three hours. Sam drives up there, but finds no Arbogast, but only Norman's mother. He drives back to Lila and they visit SHERIFF AL CHAMBERS (played by John McIntire). Al and his wife, ELIZA CHAMBERS listen to Lila and Sam's story of Marion's disappearance and of Arbogast's disappearance. Sam says that when he went up there, he too noticed Norman's mother. Both Al and Eliza make them aware of the death of Norman's mother that happened ten years earlier. Sam is certain of seeing Norman's mother in the house. The next morning, Lila and Sam drive up to the motel and decide to check in as man and wife, in order to search the motel. They are checked in by Norman. They settle in and begin searching Cabin No.1 and find that it was occupied by Marion. Sam tells Lila to take the job of questioning Mrs. Bates, while he distracts Norman. Lila enters Norman's fruitcellar, only to see that Mrs. Bates is dead, as the real killer is finally revealed. If you're wise, you'll take showers with the curtains open forever. ... Read more

Description

The streets of San Francisco run red when a horror convention comes totown, bringing with it a most unusual guest of honor: Malakai, a mysterious cult actorwho#s also a real life bloodsucker! With his two henchmen, the reincarnations ofbodysnatchers Burke and Hare, the fanged menace perplexes Bay Area police, leaving allhope in the hands of mystery novelist Seabrook, amateur sleuth Scotty, fashion designerCindy, comic book expert Gary, and Nazi hunter Ben-Halik. The intrepid vampirehunters track the fiend to his secret lair beneath a movie theater, where diabolicalexperiments have enabled Malakai to tamper with life and death itself! Featuring KerwinMathews (7th Voyage of Sinbad) and directed by horror guru John Stanley, this tongue- in-cheek monster mash will have you clutching your armrests in fright! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A lot of fun!
If you're a fan of classic and contemporary horror films, Nightmare in Blood (1978) can be a lot of fun. That's not to say this cheaply made feature is actually good, but it's clearly ambitious. Its creative team obviously tried making the best film they could given their inexperience and the project's budgetary limitations, and to its credit Nightmare in Blood has a respect for and understanding of its audience. The picture has a lot of good ideas (and a few bad ones), and is more polished than other horror movies with similarly low budgets.
The picture was apparently shot in and around the San Francisco-Oakland area over several years, from roughly 1973-75, and wasn't actually released until 1978. The story takes place at an old movie palace (filmed at the long-gone Fox Theater in Oakland), several days before a horror convention is to take place. As the convention committee -- writer Professor Seabrook (Dan Caldwell), pert ingenue Cindy (Barrie Youngfellow), and mystery fan Scotty (John Cochran) -- whip the theater into shape, the show's Guest of Honor arrives. He is movie vampire Malakai (Jerry Walter), a Hollywood eccentric who believes in living the part, right down to sleeping in a coffin and shooting his pictures only at night. In tow are Malakai's creepy publicists: B.B. (Ray K. Goman) and Harris (Hy Pyke).

Not at all surprisingly, Malakai turns out to be a real, undead vampire. What's more, the Burke and Hare-like B.B. and Harris really are Burke and Hare, kept alive with Frankensteinian equipment smuggled into the theater's basement. As the trio arbitrarily begins choosing victims and draining their blood, and as our three heroes (joined by eccentric comic book dealer Gary) begin to unravel the mystery behind the killings, a Van Helsing-like vampire hunter Ben-Halik (Irving Israel) shows up to fill in the blanks and pass out stakes.

The few who have written about this extremely obscure picture often refer to it as tongue-in-cheek, suggesting something similar to the campy monster movie segments in The House That Dripped Blood (1970) and The Uncanny (1977). Actually, Nightmare in Blood is much more along the lines of The Projectionist (1971) or My Lovely Monster (1990), movies made by movie buffs with a genuine affection for the horror/fantasy genre. The film has several interesting concepts, such as making Ben-Halik a Jew who had originally pursued Malakai as a Nazi-era war criminal; only later did he determine Malakai also happened to be a vampire. (In a grievous misstep though, the filmmakers use stock footage of real Holocaust victims being bulldozed into mass graves, an out-of-place image in Saturday matinee material like this.)

The film abounds with references to both horror movies and their stars, from Lon Chaney to Christopher Lee, to comic books like Vault of Horror and Plop!. Indeed, there's even a nice scene that's practically a love poem to the influence of comic books. In the theater, there are posters hung everywhere worth pennies then and thousands now. (Oddly, one of these is for The Fighting Rats of Tobruk, a 1944 British war movie!) A major subplot involves a condescending local horror movie host, George Wilson (Morgan Upton), and a censorship advocate, Dr. Karl Unsworth (Justine Bishop), both shrewdly calculated to piss off the very audience that Nightmare in Blood was targeted at. Guess what happens to them?

There are several movies within the movie, one of which offers a fleeting glimpse at a very young Kathleen Quinlan. The most prominent of these faux films though is "The Zaroff Doom," notable in that it features Kerwin Mathews battling Malakai but more obviously referencing Mathews's Sinbad persona. Watching his scenes (and how well Mathews aged), leaves one wishing the actor had continued in the Sinbad role through the 1970s Harryhausen pictures.

As for Nightmare in Blood, the film is at once more polished than you'd expect yet still overwhelmingly cheap and generally routine in its horror elements. The film was shot in Techniscope, and cinematographers Kenn Davis (who co-wrote and co-produced) and Charles Rudnick manage some decent compositions, and the movie's score is pretty good for such a low budget film.

Outside of Mathews and Quinlan, the cast consisted of local talent, many of whom had small parts in Hollywood productions filmed in the Bay Area, such as the Dirty Harry movies and the 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The acting is uneven, with several performers shamelessly hammy, but most, yet again, are better than usual for such cheap films.

Video & Audio

Happily, Nightmare in Blood is presented here in its original Techniscope aspect ratio in a 16:9 anamorphic transfer. It appears a 35mm theatrical print was used, judging by the long scratches and missing frames here and there. Considering the obscurity of this title and that at its peak probably no more than a half-dozen prints were ever struck, one should be thankful the film exists at all. The mono soundtrack also seems derived from the same print source and is fair at best; there are no subtitles.

Extras

The DVD has a pretty nice selection of extras, several having nothing to do with the movie, but amusing in their own way. First and foremost is an audio commentary track, one of the most entertaining this reviewer has heard in a long while, featuring director/co-producer/co-writer John Stanley and the aforementioned Kenn Davis. In sharp contrast to the superficial big studio commentary, the pair are nostalgic but forthright about the problems they endured getting the picture made and distributed, saying up front that theirs is both a "how-to" and "how-not" to make such a picture. They offer up a lot of interesting tidbits, pointing out future director Fred Dekker (then 13 years old) as a mask-wearing extra, and how actor Jerry Walter went on to loop innumerable stormtrooper voices in Star Wars.

Next is a nine-minute Interview with Leonard Maltin about his annual TV Movies and a seven minute interview with writer Richard P. Jewell (now an Associate Dean at the USC School of Cinema-Television) about his book The RKO Story. What does this have to do with Nightmare in Blood? Nothing, but director Stanley, for those not living in San Francisco during the late-1970s/early-1980s, also hosted a local horror movie show, Creature Features, from whence these segments are derived. Both pieces seem to date from about 1983, and both use scads of film clips that, despite their extremely poor quality, may inadvertently turn this DVD into a collector's item. Two other Creature Feature segments, one spoofing The Bad Seed the other, of all things, a Tae Kwon Do demonstration featuring an extremely nervous and dry-mouthed martial artist/instructor, will appeal only to nostalgic San Franciscans who want to remember the show. A photo gallery rounds out the batch.

Nightmare in Blood - sucks!
What a terrible movie! It is funny that the film was about a convention in San Francisco when the movie was actually shot in Downtown Oakland at the Fox Oakland Theatre before the theatre was ravaged by a fire and the seats were torn out. Here it is 30 years later, the Fox Oakland is still there and vacant, (not gone as stated by another writer)and so is this movie! As a native from Oakland, and a projectionist for many years, the scene of the Avenue Theatre just brought back so many memories. Warren Lubich on the organ! It is now a church.

I was an employee of the Fox Oakland. During the narration of the movie, it was stated that it felt like there was a spirit of somekind there. There is. Wierd, wierd, things used to happen in there. On each side of the stage there were two buddahs, holding pots. Dry ice would be dropped in it and it would explode with smoke. The right buddah used to light up all by itself and it had eyes that looked like it followed you everywhere. The left buddah would spout smoke when the mechanical device that ran it wasn't even connected. Pictures of the buddahs are at www.foxoakland.org. The curtains on the stage would close and reopen by itself. One time when the movie started and the curtains started to open, the screen started to move upward and eventually the movie was showing on the bare wall! The projectionist tried to stop it but couldn't cause there was no switch!. In the row of seats in front of the projection booth in the balcony, when you looked up you would see a old lady sitting there all by herself, she would look at you and smile and slowly disappear. Frances, the evening usher, saw her when the Fox was closing for the evening, she fainted. She quit the next day. When the Fox Oakland was ravaged by not one but two fires, the seats were removed. There was a pleasure faire there and several employees saw the old lady in the projection booth, scared the heck out of a lot of people. The Fox Oakland is under renovation - and is haunted, no doubt.

The producers of this film picked a perfect place.

When I first saw the film, it played at the York Theatre in San Francisco. A quarter of the people walked out. Sad, but true!

GREAT TITLE FOR LOW-BUDGET CURIO....
"Nightmare in Blood" has a lot going for it but is hampered by a very low budget, amateurish production values and a very dark DVD print. It concerns a "Horrorcon"---horror film convention---in San Francisco where the guest of honor, vampire star Malakai, turns out to be the real thing. He's accompanied by the rejuvenated corpse snatchers Burke and Hare. They start conducting their rejuvination experiments in the basement of the theater where the convention is being held. Victims soon start being dissected and organs stolen. A Jewish vampire hunter is hot on Malakai's trail because Malakai was a disciple of Hitler! But the intrepid cast band together with the hunter to stop the carnage. And there is carnage. There's violence and gore and some of it appears to have been trimmed because there's a choppiness to it that gets annoying. Cast features Barrie Youngfellow (of the 70's sitcom "It's a Living") as Cindy and Kathleen Quinlan (billed as "Kathy") can be seen screaming in a brief scene. The film has lots of references to old horror films as well as clips and posters used as props. Much discussion about horror films' effects on society and children is used throughout as well. Overall, "Nightmare in Blood" is an odd, drive-in style film that suffers from some problems. The acting ranges from good to downright bad and I wish the print wasn't so dark. But some may like it and if you're curious it's worth a look. It has some interesting, if not entirely successful, points. ... Read more

Description

4 movies on 2 DVDs

Alfred Hitchcock became the most widely known and influential director in the history of world cinema - spanning over 50 years.Hitchcock's type of screen entertainment was sophisticated suspense and laced with humor and romance.A cultural icon, his bald head, pear-shaped body and somber drawl made him as recognizable as any star he ever directed.These four timeless mystery movies are filled with murder and mayhem, and enough chills and thrilss to delight devoted Hitchcock fans!

Disc 1
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1943) starring Leslie Banks and Edna Best The 39 Steps (1935) starring Robert Donat & Madeleine Carroll

Disc 2
Secret Agent (1936)starring John Gielgud and Peter Lorre Sabotage (1936)starring Sylvia Sidney and Oskar Homolka ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Early Hitch set wins no awards,but won't break your bank!
You have to rate American Movie Classic's bargain-priced 4-movie collection of early Alfred Hitchcock films on a sliding scale... you generally do not anticipate a Criterion Collection-quality restoration at the cost of a couple dollars per film! That being said, the prints on this 2-DVD set of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (the original B&W 1930's version), "The 39 Steps", "Secret Agent" and "Sabotage" don't look any worse than I've ever seen to date. (Keep in mind that all four of these films are around 70 years old) The audio has been slightly enhanced; there is not as much of the tell-tale "white noise" you tend to experience in such aged films. As for the movies themselves-it is generally agreed that "The Man.." and "39 Steps" are bonafide Hitchcock classics (although debate continues as to whether Hitch's own 1956 "remake" of "The Man.." is the superior version-perhaps that depends on your tolerance for Doris Day warbling "Que Sera Sera" ad nauseum.) "Sabotage" is arguably the weakest selection, although still quite watchable; but the real surprise for this viewer was rewatching the frequently overlooked "Secret Agent", an entertaining blend of suspenseful WWI espionage and amusing, sophisticated repartee a la "The Thin Man" between John Gielgud, Robert Young, Peter Lorre and pretty Madeleine Carrol. No DVD "extras" to speak of, but any self-respecting film buff would be silly to pass up such a deal! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Well worth the money
Why pay $39 for the Criterion Collection, when here you can get "39 Steps", plus two other classic Hitchcock movies. Admittedly, the transfer on "Young and Innocent" is not the best...it seems to get worse toward the end. The other two transfers, while far from perfect, are certainly good enough to make for enjoyable viewing.

For those who haven't yet seen "Rich and Strange", you are in for a rare treat, too.

3 Classic Hitchcock Thrillers
THE THIRTY NINE STEPS: Richard Hannay accidentally gets implicated in England's international spy investigation and must decipher a clue left behind, "The 39 Steps."
YOUNG AND INNOCENT: A traveller finds himself accused of murder, and must set out to prove his innocence.
RICH AND STRANGE: When a couple inherits money from a rich uncle they take a world cruise that quickly becomes full of unexpected disasters. ... Read more