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Set in Pennsylania in 1968, Scary Stories to tell in the Dark follows a group of friends on halloween night who decide to sneak into the abandoned house of a supposed witch's family. Finding a story book that starts automonously writing stories about the group and their peers that come true in spectacularly more gruesome ways, the rapidly dwindling group must find a way to get to the bottom of the curse that controls the book and stop it.

Based on a collection of kids books, I have to say I thought this film was fairly enjoyable. Playing out sort of like a series of anthology stories that are all woven together into a bigger narrative, the monsters are creepy, the effects are well done and the mini nightmarish scenarios are just unsettling enough without being too grotesque for younger horror fans. And by younger horror fans I mean teens - obviously younger kids shouldn't be watching this...

The problem is, due to its nature and source material the movie ends up feeling a bit derivitive, a bit 'horror greatest hits', and the ending felt predictable and a bit of a let down. If it had just finished up with a stronger finale, maybe with a twist on things, it could have been excellent. As it is though, it's entertaining enough but just falls short of greatness...

Based on a short story called 'Casting the Runes', Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon) follows professor John Holden, who arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover that his colleague has died in a freak accident. After discovering his colleage was investigating a devil worshipping cult and its leader, Dr Karswell, Holden takes a vested interest in Kerswell... believing him to be involved somehow in the death of his friend. What he discovers will push him to the very edge of his sanity...

Despite it's age, NotD still manages to deliver an enjoyable horror experience. I like how the protagonist is a stern professor who believes everything has a scientific explanation, and as more and more bonkers stuff happens he can't get his head around, he slowly allows himself to get pulled into this satanic nightmare. All the performances are pretty good (with Niall MacGinnis being particularly great as the creepy Dr Karswell), and despite the special effects varying in quality (the panther attack during the break in scene looked comically fake) they still nevertheless mostly deliver.

Apparently there were numerous creative differences between the producers and the director, the latter not actually wanting to show the titular demon itself and therefore leaving audience interpretation somewhat open. I can't help but wonder what the film would have been like had this played out, especially watching it now with demon effects that... well let's just say have aged. Being ambiguous may have helped the film stand out a bit more over time.

Still, as far as classic British horror films go it's hard to fault Night of the Demon. If the fact that it's almost 70 years old (and in many ways looks like it) doesn't put you off, then give it a go!

Ghostbusters follows 3 university students who discover how to track, trap and even contain ghosts. Initially using their methods for financial gain, things quickly step up when an ancient entity from another dimension seeks to invade our world. With the emergency services pretty much useless in the face of spectral invasion, the question is - who you gonna call?

Ghostbusters is one of my favourite films of all time. Perfectly balancing intelligent humour with some genuine scares, an interesting plot that is detailed without being confusing, some astonishing special effects (for 1984 standards) and brilliant performances by all the cast, Ghostbusters ticks every box that you could ever want ticking. The ghosts look great in their grotesqueness, and even the equipment the Ghostbusters use is seriously cool. I defy anyone to not wish those proton packs were real!

Ghostbusters was a cultural phenomenon when I was a kid, and despite being followed by several sequels of varying quality of the years, the original film still stands tall among it's 80's peers. If somehow you have missed it, then what are you waiting for?