mungflesh

Messiah of Evil is one of those in the "best horror movie's you've never heard of" category. Well, "best" is probably a stretch but it is definitely one that horror fans of this era should check out.

Arletty, played by Marianna Hill, is searching for her father but as her time in the town of Point Dune extends, she and the other out of towners discover the horrifying history of the area and that its secrets are not just in the past.

It has a terrific moody atmosphere, laced with small-town paranoia like other classics Carnival of Souls, Halloween 3 and Dead and Buried.

Its pacing is the main problem, as it tends to linger on scenes of irrelevant dialog and then out of the blue pulls the rug from under you and you see some really memorable horror moments.

It's well shot and acted and has solid on-screen make up fx with a minimal budget.

I can't be sure but I suspect The League of Gentlemen TV Series owes aspects of its superb second season, to this movie.

The first 20mins is random S&M weirdness in a basement and then the movie changes pace (for the worse) and becomes a truly tedious watch.

I'm not Giallo's biggest fan but Argento's stuff is reasonably watchable and has some very memorable moments and graphic killings. This movie has none of that. It's just boobs, more boobs, "darling" this and "darling" that and suddendly a load of nonsensical reveals towards the end.

The reviews which imply a gothic vibe to this film are way off. There's as much gothicness in this as Austin Powers.

I've seen a lot of boring movies but this one takes the biscuit.

I had avoided this for years, based only on not liking that poster art much. Big mistake! It was actaully really good.

Workers in an office block, situated in a bizarrely isolated location, arrive at work to find a new meaning to the term "office cull".

I don't like these kind of movies where people are locked in and made to turn on each other. They're full of depressing messages about our species.

Having said that, this one somehow makes it a good, witty watch with a very fast pace and excellent characters. It is quite bloody at times but never cruel and protracted.

I thing the last 20 mins or so could have been a bit less generic and predictable but otherwise did not spoil a really great watch.