Hammer Films is coming back on us with a vengeance tonight, folks–seems that they’ve started their comeback tour, and we’re getting a look at the results with Resident. It literally just came out, folks, and it’s going to be impressive.

Resident follows a doctor who just got separated from her husband. And she thinks she’s found the perfect apartment in which to get separated. It’s a beauty, with big, airy rooms and a terrific view…but as our doctor–Juliet, by name–will discover, a killer apartment can sometimes wind up even more of a killer than you might expect. Especially once she finds out just how the apartment became available in the first place….

I’ll give Hammer due credit on this one–their opening title crawl is actually pretty creepy in its own right. It does a terrific job of setting up the rest of the nasty that we’re going to be seeing here, and thankfully, it doesn’t shoot its metaphorical bolt in the title crawl. Really, Resident is a good old fashioned thriller of the kind we only used to see way back in the deep dark days of, say, Fatal Attraction or Basic Instinct. This will have urbanites and apartment dwellers alike checking under their beds for days, possibly even weeks afterward, and that is no small feat these days.

But be careful–this is also going to be quite a bit more than you might normally get out of a thriller these days. It’s a very high-tension piece; this one–they do a great job of building suspense, and most of the last half hour is going to be an utter onslaught of freaky moments and vicious combat. Where the hour preceding it was careful, deliberate, and took its time regarding pacing, the last half hour will run wildly amok and do downright terrifying things.  The contrast between the earlier two thirds and the ending third really makes this movie something special.

Basically, folks, if you’re dying for a shocker with a whole lot of punch to it–and, parenthetically, a pretty sweet date movie, fellas–you’ll definitely have to have a go-round with Hammer‘s newest.

Frankly, if this is indicative of the kind of quality they’ll put into all their work then I’m absolutely dying to see Wake Wood.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Resident a full ten out of ten for not only putting on a great show, but also being every inch worthy of the old Hammer name. This is fine stuff for anyone who likes their movies scary, and well worth a watch.

So the folks out at Synapse Cinema sent over a copy of their recent re-releasing of the 1972 horror…um..classic, if you’re being charitable, Vampire Circus. I generally don’t watch much horror released before I was born because it has an unnerving tendency to be unpleasant. Will this one follow suit? Let’s find out!

Vampire Circus takes us to the 1800s, when in a little Austrian village, a girl is murdered by a vampire. The townspeople react in classic townspeople style, complete with pitchforks and torches, and go after said vampire, who in turn curses the townspeople thusly: all their children will die, and when that happens, he will come back to life. Fifteen years later, the town has the plague and the circus has just arrived–so things are sort of mixed for the town right now. At least…until their troubles REALLY get started. Seems the kids are going missing, and the longer the circus stays in town, the closer things get to the resurrection of the evil vampire that cursed them all. Will any children survive? Or will the vampire rise to run amok on the surface of the earth once more?

Admittedly, I’m actually rather pleased with this. The concept is interesting, and as vampire movies go, this is definitely one of the least unpleasant. Not that that’s exactly a big field, mind you…the list of vampire movies that don’t suck could fill a very small thimble.

That’s not to say this is perfect, though–the effects are clearly on the lowest of the low end. One particularly memorable sequence involved a man in a panther suit fighting a guy and a whole lot of orange paint being tossed on perfectly good ferns.

But it is pretty good, still, with lots of strange back and forth and unusual circumstances, with suspicion and tension built and released and discharged in due course.

Interestingly, this is one of the older Hammer horror films, re-released on DVD and Blu-ray by Synapse, so if you’re game to see a chunk of historical horror, this is a fine place to start.

The Screenhead Ten Scale gives Vampire Circus a six out of ten–it will do a fair enough job, but a lot of its points come from being a big fish in a mud puddle. It’s worth your time to watch, of course, but if you’ve got other stuff in mind to see first, do so, as this isn’t anything spectacular that you’ll regret putting off.

Congratulations Marilyn Wons!!! You now have Hammer DVD!!!

Details about the Hammer giveaway below!

Jerry Ferro’s life is brought into focus on his 40th birthday and it’s not a pretty picture.  A once-promising amateur boxer – who quit so he wouldn’t risk his perfect record of underachievement – Jerry has been knocking around from one job to another and spinning his wheels in an unsatisfying relationship.  After sparring with an up-and-coming pro and throwing him a one-punch knockdown, Jerry reluctantly steps into the ring and despite an ass-kicking, decides it’s time to make his return to competitive boxing and go for Olympic gold!

Details about the Hammer giveaway below!

Jerry Ferro’s life is brought into focus on his 40th birthday and it’s not a pretty picture.  A once-promising amateur boxer – who quit so he wouldn’t risk his perfect record of underachievement – Jerry has been knocking around from one job to another and spinning his wheels in an unsatisfying relationship.  After sparring with an up-and-coming pro and throwing him a one-punch knockdown, Jerry reluctantly steps into the ring and despite an ass-kicking, decides it’s time to make his return to competitive boxing and go for Olympic gold!

Please post your name and I will draw the winner June 24th!