Darkroom, 1989

Janet, a student returns to her family home to visit her family that she hasn't seen for a while. She is later joined by her boyfriend who is welcomed into the family.

Janet's other sister is missing, and we find out has been murdered by someone who likes to take photos of his victims. Suspicion falls on her sister’s boyfriend who lives down by the river and had met her sister while working for her family, though this is one of a couple of red herrings to put you off who the real killer is.

Eventually the killer gets his eyes on Jane and the rest of her family and starts killing and trying to kill them all off one by one. This all leads to Janet finding who the killer is and some secrets about her family she did not know.

Darkroom is an ok film, not great but watchable if a bit predictable near the end and I thought it was obvious halfway though who the killer was! While a late slasher, it at times does feel a bit like a giallo but only just!

I think the movie went out on the strength of the it being a Nico Mastrakis production, Nico having directed the video nasty Island of Death. That saying I have only seen Zero Boys, along with Island of Death by him, but this film doesn't hold up to them bar maybe have a similar subplot of incest like in Island...

While it is definitely a run of the mill slasher, it's worth a watch, mean it doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it may bring joy to some slasher fans!

10 to Midnight, 1983

Recently picked this up from 88 Films as part of their classic slasher line, though I really wouldn't consider this a slasher in the classic sense, more a thriller/cop drama.

10 to Midnight revolves around a man called Warren Stacey who doesn't take rejection from women very well, his attempts at flirting and guess his general demeanour towards women comes off as creepy. Enough to go and get revenge on them by murdering them and anyone else that gets in his way.

Bronson's character Detective Leo Kessler and his new partner Paul are on the case to try track him down, however Warren seems one step ahead of him and plans his murders meticulously which provides him with solid albis to avoid prosecution. He also commits the murders in the nude and wears latex gloves to avoid any fingerprints.

He is eventually arrested and sent to court but due to evidence planted by Kessler to nail him due to nothing concrete sticking him to the crimes he did commit is set free and Kessler suspended.

Warren then gets fixated with Kessler's daughter Laurie who he sees at the funeral of first victim of the film as she was a friend of Laurie’s. This all leads up to the finale, where Warren goes to the nursing college where Laurie is and ends up murdering three of Laurie’s roommates while trying to get to her.

He doesn't get to Laurie but chases her through the streets naked, while Kessler goes after him and catches up to him. Warren says he cannot do anything to him as he will say he heard voices that made him do it and can sway it so people think he is crazy, and he will get away with it.

However, Kessler disagrees with him by shooting him in the head and finally stopping him from anymore murders....

I liked this film, though as I don't think it is a slasher film it is pretty close to real life horror in terms of the subject matter. In recent years there have been more similar murders due to men being rejected and the character of Warren is definitely what people would refer to as today as an incel. The final murders of the film I'm surprised didn't cause upset around the time as it is similar to what Ted Bundy did where he murdered a couple of students in the same building.

One scene did have me laughing where Bronson is waving the weirdest looking sex toy around in the interrogation room. Not sure how he managed to keep a straight face doing that!

A fairly decent film with a frightening reality of shit like incels are really dangerous!