Does anyone know what these horror films are? (graphic-ish)

I occasionally remember snippets of films I saw when I was a kid, and proceed to try and track them down. Sometimes they turn out to be stinkers, sometimes they turn out to be films I can still enjoy (Nausicaa in particular. The Dot films, mostly, too. Visionaries was also fun to revisit. Happily Ever After, on the other hand…).

I saw a lot of horror films, and there’s a couple of scenes that are so vivid in my mind that I wonder whether anyone would know what these films are. I keep searching, but eventually I got tired, and I thought “wouldn’t it be better just to ask someone?”.

BTW, this is not related to IF in any way shape or form. I hope that’s ok.

Ok, then, one of the films was one of those “china doll horror” movies. I think it was number 2 in a series. I distinctly remember a number of china dolls, at least one was man-sized. I remember that the main antagonist (whom I remember as being a doll himself), near the climax of the film, slit his wrist (or maybe his throat) and let his lifeblood drop into the open mouth of a life-sized porcelain mannequin that I think was shaped like a skeleton, who then came to life (or rather, the main antagonist transferred himself through his blood).

Another film I distinctly remember was one where there was some sort of monster going around that, I most vividly recall, at least in one occasion tore someone’s arm out of their socket, which is quite unusual if you think about it, even for horror films. I think this one was black and white. The film ended at a hospital, and I think there was something about a birth, maybe the monster giving birth, or a woman giving birth to the monster.

Yeah, I saw these films as a kid.

There’s another film which I remember as being quite run-of-the-mill and with a silly premise: the monster needed other people’s heads to survive, or what have you. He/she routinely killed people, wore their heads and assumed their place (without any regard for gender or body build, as far as I can remember). I remember this one because it’s the first time I saw animal cruelty of any kind suggested in a live-action film - at one point he kills a dog and puts its head on.

Also, just before making this post, I found out that other films I enjoyed as a kid were the Josefina The Whale cartoons (Spanish), Pampalini The Hunter (Polish!) and Pound Puppies: The Legend Of Big Paw.

It strikes me that I’ve had a decidedly unusual viewing taste in my formative years. Wonder whether that’s affected me. That can’t be where my taste for human flesh comes from…

EDIT - Oh, and this one has been driving me nuts! It’s a cartoon with sort of ghost-hunting kids, like Scooby Doo, except that it’s all for real. I distinctly remember the antagonist, a vampire, playing an organ (Tocatta and Fugue in D minor, Bach) with his back to the camera. There were paintings that the protagonists could “fall into”. There was some sort of flying vessel, I think. The bad guy was defeated by a contrivance of many small round mirrors, that I think reflected sunlight. This one is INFURIATING because I’ve got lots of little clear images in my mind, but nothing that I can use to google for!

I was hoping to be able to storm in, show off and name all these, but I think the best I can do is suggest a few titles.

  • With the doll one, there aren’t a lot of doll series films. Mostly I think of Child’s Play and Puppet Master. What you’ve described isn’t a Child’s Play film, as I know those. But it could be a Puppet Master film (though I haven’t seen any of those.) For instance, Puppet Master 2:

imdb.com/title/tt0100438/?ref_=nv_sr_3

There are at least 6 Puppet Master films, maybe more.

  • The ‘needs heads to survive’ one. Any chance it’s ‘The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant’?

imdb.com/title/tt0067245/reviews?ref_=tt_urv

  • The arm-ripping one. The combination of being in black and white and having an arm torn off is a hard place to start! There are a lot of Bigfoot gore films in the 70s-80s, but all in colour, obviously. I can’t even pass the black and white test with the following unlikely suggestions: The Beast Within (imdb.com/title/tt0081229/?ref_=nv_sr_5) both feature rampaging monsters and interspecies sex which could potentially result in scenes of more monsters being born in hospitals.

-Wade

Hmm, Puppet Master is an interesting suggestion. It doesn’t sound right, but some points of the blurbs do coincide. I’ll have a look and get back to you.

Incidently, I seem to remember that the doll film, whatever it was (and it certainly wasn’t Child’s Play, that one I remember quite well :slight_smile: ), took place in a manor of some sort. Old, big, atmospheric house, y’know.

The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant: I’m afraid not, no (looks like a MST3K film!). This one only had one actual head, even if he did keep taking it off other people. (it’s not Pumpkinhead, either). I think the bad guy was an alien.

Night of the Demon: based on the synopsis, I’d say no. The Beast Within: I’m fairly certain that’s not it, but some part do seem familiar. I’ll have to watch it.

Of course, what makes this hard is that memory plays tricks! I’m not certain of some details, and some of what is clear in my mind is hard to put into words! For instance, it may not be black and white, just have the key scenes in very low-contrast colours! So I surely do appreciate your help, what I’m asking is definitely not easy!

EDIT - Hey, about the arm-ripping one, another thing I remember. I very very distinctly remember a character (a nurse?) lying dead next to her own ripped arm, maybe in a stairwell (or maybe not). I don’t think the monster limited itself to ripping arms, but hey, that’s what got stuck in the head of this nine year old.

BTW… if I was about nine at the time, possibly younger, that would make the film no later than 1993, but I’m sure it was much older than that. Again, though, maybe my black-and-white impression is off. It certainly felt more like a 70’s or 80’s horror flick than a 60’s.

(of course, I’m retroactively analysing my old memories with the experience I got in the intervening years, so who knows what I may be messing up!).

Incidently, another film which I had the pleasure of rediscovering recently was The Man With The X-Ray Eyes. That was one easy because it was mentioned in Stephen King’s “Danse Macabre”, but up until I read that book, it was as hazy a film as these others I’ve mentioned. Ah, Roger Corman, like you or hate you you certainly put passion into your films.

You know what, I think it IS Puppet Master! I’ll definitely check it out in more detail! Wow, thanks! One more obscure film from my childhood identified, I think!

EDIT - Even if it isn’t Puppet Master, it seems like the sort of series I’d enjoy, so it’s a win-win. Even when it starts going downhill - which, by all accounts, it does - I can still enjoy the lameness the same way I enjoyed the awful Nightmare in Elm Street 5 and 6.

EDIT 2 - I’ve checked, it’s Puppet Master 2 all right, definitely. :slight_smile: But wow, my memory did play tricks. The main antagonist was not a doll until the end, and the doll he transfers himself to in no way resembles a skeleton. Except in the way that any humanoid construction resembles the general shape of a humanoid skeleton. There WAS a skeleton shaped doll, but that was a different character altogether.

I checked and it wasn’t The Beast Within, but it was a good guess all the same.

BTW, doesn’t the cartoon strike anyone as familiar? Not in the least? That’s the one I REALLY really wanted to track down…

And, there are 10 Puppet Master films. If you can believe that.

Your description of the dolls reminds me of Dolls (1987), which is definitely worth watching.

Neil

The one where the alien kept exchanging its head was amusingly called “The Borrower.” It was sort of a horror/comedy.

It also had a really bizarre reference to Garbage Pail Kids the Movie since at one point someone was watching that film on TV.

Seemed like they had a sequel planned for the movie with how it ended, but I guess it just never materialized.