Caturday Movies - Kitten Instinct

Dinosaur meets cat in Kitten Instinct

This week's Caturday Movie is Kitten Instinct, a Belgian short film about a Tyrannosaurus Rex who dreams about a cute little kitten. The dream ushers in a new phase of his life. Determined to recover the kitten, the dinosaur abandons his daily routine of hunting, eating and sleeping, and sets out to explore the world around him.

Celluloid Diaries had a chat with Liesbeth Eeckman about the similarities between cats and dinosaurs, her main inspirations, the biggest challenges while making her short film, and, of course, her own cat, Sputnik.

Also, she makes her film available to readers of Celluloid Diaries until August 31.

These lamps are a must-have for VHS fans

Do you feel nostalgic when it comes to VHS cassettes? I for one am still fond of these tapes and I have a huge collection I will never get rid of. One look at them brings back instant childhood memories.

As soon as I saw these decorative lamps made from old VHS tapes, I knew they were a must-have. If you have any VHS addicts among your friends, know that these VHS lamps would make great presents.

Caturday Movies - The Uninvited

This week's Caturday Movie is brought to you by Justine Coote from The Overlook Theater and was previously published in the book When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals.

For a monster kid like myself, meeting legendary writer/director Greydon Clark was like meeting Alfred Hitchcock. Although Clark is not as well known or praised for his cinematic achievements, he has left his mark in film history and has inspired countless generations of grindhouse enthusiasts, creature feature kids, and independent filmmakers. Sitting with Mr. Clark at Monsterpalooza, I experienced his love of the genre first hand as we went from discussing his film It Came Without Warning (1980), which was admittedly the inspiration for the film Predator (1987), to one of Greydon’s lesser known creations, Uninvited (1988).

Filming locations - Devil's Nightmare

Devil's Nightmare is a Belgian/Italian horror movie released in 1971. Directed by Jean Brismée, it tells the story of seven tourists who become lost during a trip in Europe. A strange man by the roadside shows them the way, but as it's too late to catch the ferry, they are then directed to a castle where they can spend the night. There, they meet a succubus (Erika Blanc) who kills them because they represent the seven sins.

In Belgium, where the film was shot and released under the French title La plus longue nuit du diable, hardly anyone knows of its existence. However, it was quite successful in Italy. Since then, it has been released under an array of different titles, so you may also know it as The Devil Walks at Midnight, Nightmare of Terror, Vampire Playgirls, Castle of Death, La terrificante notte del demonio, Au service du diable, etc.

This strange mix between The Pit and the Pendulum and the Euro trash films of Jess Franco and Jean Rollin, was almost entirely shot in and around a castle in Belgium: Château d'Antoing or Castle of the Princes of De Ligne, which was first mentioned in the 12th century but rebuilt by architect Clement Parent in neo-Gothic style in the 19th century. It's one of the country's most beautiful castles, so whether you've seen the film or not, it's worth a visit when you're in South West Belgium or one of the neighboring cities in France.

Caturday Movies - Strays

This week's Caturday Movie is brought to you by Daniel Alves from The Overlook Theater and was previously published in When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies with Killer Animals.

For reasons that now escape me, the theme we decided to go for that night was animal attacks; out of several options, we chose Strays, a film that we believed would follow the slasher formula (as do many animal attack films). It became apparent almost immediately that this film would be an entirely different “animal.”

The film opens with a crazy cat lady being killed by what seems to be a giant cat. We’re then introduced to our victims: a professional couple with a young daughter. This initially perplexed me since a good slasher needs at least five potential victims, and those victims generally do not include children. However, we soon see that the couple is buying the home of the crazy cat lady from the opening. A young couple with a small child buying a suspicious new home; this isn’t a slasher movie; it’s a haunted house film! The creators of this movie decided to take a haunted house narrative but replaced ghosts with feral cats. Fortunately, it’s a very good haunted house movie. The formula usually has a shocking/mysterious intro, some jump scares or deaths of minor characters to keep up suspense, and then the supernatural force reveals itself for the climax. Most of the story, however, is about the victim’s day to day life while the ghost gears up for act three. The key to a successful haunted house story is to make that day to day almost as, if not more, interesting than the supernatural action, and Strays delivers.

Should you watch Spider-Man: Homecoming?

Do we need a new Spider-Man reboot? Sony and Marvel announced from the beginning they weren't planning on doing another origin story, yet we all expect the typical superhero plot with a myriad of Marvel characters thrown into the mix. Instead, 36-year-old director Jon Watts surprises us and opts for a mix between a John Hughes movie and Kick-Ass.

Movie night ideas - Best iced latte recipes

The flavor combinations with lattes are endless, and it's a fun way to add variety to your summer movie night drinks. These iced lattes are perfect when watching a movie from your balcony or garden. You can also take them with you to open air screenings by putting them in jars and then in a cooler.

P.S. For healthier versions of these iced lattes, you can swap the milk for organic rice milk.

Four "Animals Run Amok" movies to watch this summer

In celebration of my latest book, When Animals Attack: The 70 Best Horror Movies With Killer Animals, the B to Z summer editions at the Cinematek in Brussels, Belgium, will be dedicated to "animals run amok" movies. The screenings will be accompanied by a book signing, and I'll be giving an introduction to the films together with director Bruno Forzani (Amer, The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears).

Here's the "animals run amok" summer program...

Best gifts for Game of Thrones fans

How excited are you for the seventh season of Game of Thrones? If you're like me, you'll probably watch the show in the company of your friends. If they prepare food and take care of drinks, you'll want to bring them a special gift.

Need gift ideas?

I already did some of the work for you and compiled this gift guide containing the best gifts for Game of Thrones fans.

Interview with Alejandro Amenábar

Back in April, I had the chance to have a long chat with Alejandro Amenábar at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFFF). He's the director of some of the best and smartest movies Spain has ever produced, including Tesis, Abre Los Ojos, The Others, Mar Adentro, Agora, and Regression. We talked about the entirety of his career, and I tested his knowledge of Belgian cinema.