Alan Maxwell

Poster for the film Death Weekend, under its alternative title of The House by the Lake, showing a spooky looking house and a man forcefully holding his hand over a scared woman's mouth

Poster art for Zombie 4: After Death, showing a bloody, decaying hand and a pool of blood coming out from behind a metal gate

Continuing the #31DaysOfHorror with films #12 and #13. This feels like a Saturday night double bill: tick another video nasty off the list (some Ivan Reitman-produced Canuxploitation!), followed by Italian zombie trash which feels like something I should have seen but somehow never have.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Dancing in the Shallows by Clare Reddaway, The Brightening Air by Conor McPherson and The Daemon Lover by Shirley Jackson

Another update for the "books I've read in 2025" thread: a Booker prize winner, a Skye-set family drama, a play by a playwright I love which had sadly just finished by the time I visited London this year, and a collection of short stories which I believe is the first Shirley Jackson I've ever read.

(It also afforded me the opportunity to pop into Futtle and stock up on their top notch kombucha.)

Cracking day of theatre on either side of the Silvery Tay today, with The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams' best play (yes, it is, get over yourself, Streetcar fans) at Dundee Rep this afternoon then down to the Byre in St Andrews this evening for touring production Common Tongue. Both excellent.

Watch While You Live, Shine | Disney+ Eccentric musicologist explores ancient melodies, revealing forgotten treasures.

People who enjoyed my ethnomusicologal folk horror movie might also enjoy my ethnomusicologial folk feelgood documentary, by the way (and I drew those opening titles myself, nice to see them again)

www.disneyplus.com/en-ie/browse...

A skeleton presides over an open coffin and three black robed witches dance around a graveyard in a vintage lobby card for the 1957 film The Undead

#31DaysOfHorror film #11: Saturday morning Corman!

You'll have some job getting your clown costume clean again too!

Poster for 1973 film Vault of Horror, showing a face and hands emerging from a crypt and a few other people peeking out from behind graves.

Can't have #31DaysOfHorror and not fit in a little bit of Amicus fun. Film #10 - time to revisit an old favourite.

Last four Letterboxd ratings: 3/5 and 3.5/5 for a couple of "VistaVision Visits..." travelogues, 4.5 for Wake Up Dead Man, and 4 for Lust of the Vampire

Solid enough start followed by two of VistaVision's weaker travelogues.
#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched

The Hopeless Horror of Charles Beaumont The writer died before his fortieth birthday—but left behind an influential catalogue of stories and unforgettable Twilight Zone episodes.

Today for @thebulwark.com I take a look at the short fiction of one of the great American genre writers, Charles Beaumont.

www.thebulwark.com/p/hopeless-h...

Did Dylan or Springsteen ever have a TV special where they wander round Falkland Palace with Andy Williams or sing carols with a bunch of school kids in the old church in St Monans? DID THEY FUCK

I did also travel to Belfast for 48 hours to watch Translations 3 times - basically, I'm appointing myself chief Friellie gatekeeper

YouTube video by Katherine Priddy Katherine Priddy - Matches (Official Video)

New Katherine Priddy album announced, whoop whoop
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hw6...

Paid my first visit to the Crucible in Sheffield a couple of weeks back for Dancing at Lughnasa. Arrived in Sheffield, watched the matinee, watched the evening performance, then went home. I am 100% Friellie.

@warringtonruncorn.com

Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan
Public Works and Utilities
Vinyl, Compact Disc and Digital
CiS194
10th October, 2025
castlesinspace.bandcamp.com
All good record stores.

I live part way between Culross and Kirkcaldy.

I have not yet watched it. Let's just say yes.

I've no idea, I'd probably mix them up too to be fair.

Well I really enjoyed Wake Up Dead Man. Bold move in this day and age having a main character who is both a priest and a decent bloke.

"Wake Up Dead Man" sounds like the first half of the title of a spaghetti western. The second half would presumably be something like "Sartana is Waiting" or "There's a Bullet for Django"

Where to begin with Satoshi Kon As Perfect Blue returns to cinemas, we introduce the small but perfectly formed oeuvre of Satoshi Kon, a visionary of grown-up animation whose films blur the boundary between reality and fantasy, and ...

PERFECT BLUE is newly remastered and back in cinemas, so I wrote a primer on the screen work of Satoshi Kon for the BFI!

bit.ly/3KEDVaj

YouTube video by DJ Roland Vinyl (Vinyl DJ Roland) Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers - Waiting!

Still melts my brain to think of the kind of slop that Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers achieved fame with and then they just casually dropped this all-time banger as a b-side.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRWR...

Vintage lobby card for the 1957 film Lust of the Vampire, under its Italian title of I Vampiri, showing a black and white photo of a woman walking down a gothic looking stairway, and a yellowish painting of a man's face with hand clawing out in front of him

Right then, back to horror duty. Time for some Italian fun again.
#31DaysofHorror film #9

And on the subject of cinematic tartanry, how am I only discovering this film now? Here's hoping this gets an outing near me...

Well that was... about 85 minutes.

Second movie I've watched within a couple of months filmed in Carrbridge. What are the chances.

He just described haggis as "oats, vegetables and spices" and I will not stand for this WOKE NONSENSE

Good news, it also features an Irish character with a terrible Irish accent, finally it's the Celtic Christmas Crossover movie we've all been waiting for.

IRN BRU REFERENCE

Uh-oh, the guy in the big Scottish mansion hates Christmas decorations. There's no way anyone will be able to soften his heart and change his mind within 90 minutes, I'm sure of it.