Judy Matheson Movies
- 1980
Avon (Paul Darrow) chooses the peace-loving planet Obsidian for his new headquarters. Dayna (Josette Simon) and Tarrant (Steven Pacey) likewise arrive on Obsidian, hoping to negotiate a truce between their warring civilizations. Alas, Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce) is prepared to launch an attack upon Obsidian -- whose residents would sooner die than abandon their pacifist philosophy. "Volcano" first aired on January 21, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Keating, Paul Darrow, (more)
When she is hassled by a murdering madman, a beautiful model realizes that she will have to elude the crazy fiend, or lose her life. ~ Rovi
- 1974
- R
The British "Confessions" film series was reminiscent of the "Carry On" series, albeit far, far dirtier. Many fans consider the first entry, Confessions of a Window Cleaner, to be the best of the batch. Based on a supposedly autobiographical novel by Timothy Lea, the film stars Robin Askwith as an apprentice window washer with a voyeuristic streak. Nearly everyone with whom Askwith comes in contact is an oversexed, underdressed female. Potato-shaped
Dandy Nichols plays the protagonist's mother. An anachronism even before it was released, Confessions of a Window Cleaner was nonetheless successful enough to inspire several sequels, none of which were released to American theatres. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Dandy Nichols plays the protagonist's mother. An anachronism even before it was released, Confessions of a Window Cleaner was nonetheless successful enough to inspire several sequels, none of which were released to American theatres. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1973
- R
Spanish sexploitation merchant Joseph Larraz helmed this mystery about a model who witnesses a killing; when she tries to convince the authorities of what happened, she realizes she no longer can find the murder site. Also titled Scream and Die. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
A crazed sculptor (Mike Raven) realizes that his craft is made much easier by simply pouring molten bronze over his beautiful female models. ~ John Bush, Rovi
This sick little horror film from British gore/exploitation director Pete Walker finds a group of actors summoned by an anonymous producer to take part in a gruesome Grand Guignol play being staged at an isolated resort, only to find that their characters' elaborately staged theatrical deaths are designed to do them in for real. It is revealed that their unseen benefactor is a former stage performer, driven psychotic after catching another actor in bed with his wife, who now seeks symbolic retribution against all actors for their immoral behavior. Though not quite as sleazy as some of Walker's later work, this is still fairly gruesome stuff. The same theme gets vastly superior treatment in the following year's Theatre of Blood, featuring a tour-de-force performance from Vincent Price. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
This is one of three Hammer films loosely based on Sheridan LeFanu's book Camilla, which gives the standard vampire story a lesbian twist. The other two films are The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil. In this film, Count Karnstein, through a magical ritual, relies on the feedings of the newly re-fleshed and voluptuous vampire Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard) for his own sustenance. This keeps her very busy indeed. She finds a ready supply of victims at a girls' finishing school. Her troubles begin when two male teachers from the school decide to investigate. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1971
The story of this Spanish film revolves around the corpse of a woman, Esther (Judy Matheson), whose body parts are sent in numerous packages to a horrified and puzzled print editor (Carlos Estrada). He is also sent a dead turtle, which must mean something. The packages are sent as a form of psychological torture, part of an elaborate revenge scheme by the dead woman's lesbian lover (Capucine). The editor, at one time, had a relationship with Esther which he ended rather harshly. Given that she was suicidal, the break-up apparently sent her over the edge. Though this film has some of the gruesome and bizarre imagery appropriate to a horror-fest, it is a thriller/melodrama. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1971
This entry in Hammer Films' long-running vampire series of the '60s and '70s is one of the most evocative and original. The story features voluptuous twin Playboy centerfolds Madeleine and Mary Collinson as sisters who, without parents, are sent to stay with their oppressive uncle (Peter Cushing, looking more emaciated than ever), who happens to live near the sinister Karnstein Castle, the locale of countless vampiric happenings in two prequels (The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire). One of the twins wanders over and meets the dashing Count Karstein (Damien Thomas), a vampire who later uses the girl's blood to awaken his long-lost ancestor from the dead. Of course, the uncle predictably gives chase once trouble starts, but there is a clever plot twist as the count switches the twins before one is about to be burned at the stake for her supposed satanic involvements. Twins of Evil unabashedly exploits the twins' assets to pump up the film's sex appeal; it also seems to cater to viewers with a vampire fetish. Still, neither is necessarily a bad thing in a vampire film; Twins of Evil does create an effectively sensuous mood while also managing to sustain a fair amount of tension throughout the picture. Although Universal Pictures, the U.S. distributor, extracted nearly all of the flesh and bloodletting from its release, the original British cut retains everything and is the usual copy found on video. Like its predecessors, the script for Twins of Evil is loosely based on LeFanu's classic vampire story Carmilla. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Cushing, Madeleine Collinson, (more)
