One Dark Night is a 1981 [1983 release] American supernatural horror film directed by Tom McLaughlin (Sometimes They Come Back; Jason Lives! Friday the 13th Part VI) from a screenplay co-written with Michael Hawes. It stars Meg Tilly, Melissa Newman and Robin Evans.

Special effects were provided by Tom Burman, Ellis Burman and Bob Williams.

One Dark Night was released theatrically in 1983 but was filmed two years earlier. Like Scanners, this is one of very few North American horror releases that deals with the dangers of telekinesis. It was also released as Entity Force and The Entity Force on video in the UK.

On 4 December 2017, One Dark Night is released on Blu-ray in the UK by 88 Films.

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.co.uk

A strange man named Karl Rhamarevich dies shortly after discovering a way to become even more powerful in death through telekinesis. On the night of his burial in a crypt, Julie is to spend the night there as part of an initiation rite, supervised by two other girls.

The crypt becomes a scene of horror as Raymar returns to life and deploys his terrifying telekinetic powers, with coffins sliding out and splintering open to release decaying bodies on the command of Raymar. The bodies soon begin to menace the three girls trapped inside. Will they survive the horrific night in the crypt?

Reviews:

“One Dark Night is a solid little thriller with some good performances and genuinely good effects (by Tom Burman). Though this is a PG film with little bloodshed, Burman’s corpse make-up and effects are wonderfully gruesome and still pack an eerie punch.” Bradley Harding, Monsters at Play

“It takes 65 minutes for the movie to get going, with most of the viewing experience devoted to Olivia’s research, Carol’s scheming, and Julie’s experience inside the mausoleum, home to creepiness from one end to the other. The sets are impressive and McLoughlin has the right idea, but there’s too much padding, which doesn’t translate into suspense.” Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com

“One Dark Night is a lot of fun if you’re looking for a non-slasher ‘80s horror title – and it’s a great Halloween viewing choice, too, thanks to the plenty of zombies and a lot of rubbery monster pranks pulled by the Sisters inside the crypt. Adding to the fun is an unexpected appearance by the late Adam West (TV’s Batman)…” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“The filmmakers compensate for their meager budget by shooting on location in a fantastically scary Hollywood mausoleum. They adorn their film with shots of endless, claustrophobic hallways, not letting you forget for a moment that the only thing standing between the living and an army of the dead is a quarter inch of steel.” Bryan Pope, DVD Verdict

” …all the scares are supposed to come from rotting corpses, a device that wears thin quickly. Before it’s over, the whole business has become downright silly instead of frightening. It’s not meant to be a comedy.” Mike Mayo, Videohound’s Horror Show

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

” …a predictable show of familiar jolts and one-dimensional dialogue. About two-thirds of the whole film consists of running around the mausoleum. After building up the powerful nemesis of Raymar, the film does little with him. The dreary plot involving the turning of tables on cruel pranksters looks and sounds like a quick-fill tv movie ripoff of Carrie (1976).” Richard Scheib, Moria

“One Dark Night channels all of its energy into this delirious, manic display of effects wizardry. In what amounts to the effects department emptying their clip, this climax delivers exquisite corpses by the bushel, allowing McLoughlin to effectively tread the line between vintage, gothic thrills and 80s splatter…” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“If I’d seen this on cable as a kid that last 20 minutes would have scared the shit out of me. Zero nudity, small cast, zero blood, zero gore, camel toe (visible twice), great 80’s hair and fashions. Fans of 80’s slasher will be disappointed by the slow pace, but if you stick around you’ll find a simple, but entertaining film.” Happy Otter

Buy Code Red Blu-ray: Amazon.com

Brand New 2016 HD Master | Audio Commentary with Director Tom McLoughlin and Writer Michael Hawes | Work Print Version of the Film | Brand New Commentary with Director Tom McLoughlin and Producer Michael Schroeder | Brand New On-camera interviews with McLoughlin, Schroeder, Actress E.G. Daily, Make-up Person Paul Clemens, DP Hal Trussell, Production Designer Craig Steams | Original Theatrical Trailer

Main cast:

• Meg Tilly – Body Snatchers; Psycho II
• Melissa Newman – Revenge of the Stepford Wives
• Robin Evans
• Leslie Speights – A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
• Donald Hotton – The Runestone; Buried Alive; Freeway Maniac; Invaders from Mars; Deadly Lessons; The Hearse; Dark Shadows
• Adam West – Tales from Beyond; Seance; American Vampire; Monster Island; Zombie Nightmare; The Eyes of Charles Sand; Voodoo Island
• Elizabeth Daily – Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet the Wolfman; Bad Dreams; Wacko
• Leo Gorcey Jr.
• Rhio H. Blair
• Larry Carroll – Venomous
• Kevin Peter Hall – Highway to Hell; Predator 2; Predator; Monster in the Closet; Without Warning; Prophecy

Wikipedia | IMDb

Image credits: Trash Video Finland

‘He is the destroyer’

Incubus – promoted as The Incubus – is a 1981 [released 1982] Canadian horror film directed by John Hough (American Gothic; The Watcher in the Woods; The Legend of Hell House; Twins of Evil), from a screenplay by Sandor Stern [as George Franklin] (Pin; The Amityville Horror), based on the novel by Ray Russell (X; The Premature Burial; Mr. Sardonicus). It stars John Cassavetes, Kerrie Keane and John Ireland.

The film’s score was composed by Stanley Myers (Paperhouse; Schizo; House of Mortal Sin). Maureen Sweeney created the special makeup effects and The Incubus.

In the small North American community of Galen, a physician (Cassavetes) suddenly comes face to face with a series of grotesque sexual assaults in which the women have all died from massive trauma sustained during the violent attacks.

A young man (McIntosh) has dreams about the attacks and fears that he may be unwittingly responsible for the deaths. But the horrible truth is that an incubus, a sexual demon that preys on women, is now stalking the town…

Reviews:

“… comparatively low on graphic bloodshed but makes up for it with dashes of the supernatural, some marvelous small town atmospherics, a few good jolts, and a flood of tasteless dialogue that’ll make you choke on your popcorn.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“Incubus is a considerably more tasteful film than its above synopsis might suggest. The demonic rapes all take place off-screen, for instance. John Hough is on sometimes imaginative form – like the scene where a librarian is attacked and notably one scene with a woman being dragged under a bathroom cubicle door by an unseen assailant. Overall though, the pace is too sedate…” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Though Hough’s direction is quite energetic in a mechanical fashion and Cassavetes provides hard-working performance, the film is ultimately constricted by its formula-bound script.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Buy DVD: Amazon.com

“The film never really decided whether it wanted to be a satanic movie or a slasher movie or mystery, and none of the many subplots, including one about Cassavetes accidentally killing his first wife, go anywhere.” Darrell Moore, The Best, Worst and Most Unusual: Horror Films

“… a good example of a film that is probably far more offensive and disturbing now than it was at the time it was released. Sure, you’ve got your sex and violence – that’s par for the course. The Incubus puts things into overdrive by upping the ante…” Screen Damage

“The set pieces are decently bloody and the pacing is good so at least The Incubus isn’t a bore. It also features a surprisingly strong final scene/twist. The blackout angle and half-assed supernatural elements don’t really gel though and the acting, aside from Cassavetes oddly compelling performance, is risible. This was one of the great man’s last acting jobs…” Horace Cordier, Rock! Shock! Pop!

John Cassavetes tries to look weirder than Fuseli’s Nightmare horse

“The Incubus is one hell of a sick little flick. Comic relief is pretty much nil, and the deadpan performances seem to always be effectively on target. They keep bringing us down, and there is nothing to bring us back up again (not that this is necessarily a bad thing mind you). Filled with disturbing and frank dialogue, at the time, I can see how upsetting this film could have been.” Lawrence P. Raffel, Monsters at Play

” …despite scary interludes and even a little attempt at artistry – particularly in the film’s book-end close-ups of an eyeball – The Incubus is more dull than exciting for long stretches, and the central mystery manages to generate almost no interest whatsoever, unless complicated, twisted lines of genealogy are a personal hobby.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1980s

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

” …chickens out on the central image of Russell’s novel – the huge size of the incubus’ phallus – and it’s a castration that reaches out into the whole film.” Chris Peachment, Time Out

“Not an outstanding terrorizer, but it has enough oddball characters and screams to sustain attention.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“The climax of the film features a downbeat, perverse and reasonably effective twist, but up until that point the picture is a tough slog; alternately unpleasant and silly, with frequently inane dialogue on the subject of weird sperm.” Caelum Vatnsdal, They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

Main cast and characters:

• John Cassavetes as Sam Cordell – The Fury; Rosemary’s Baby
• Kerrie Keane as Laura Kincaid – Ghost Whisperer; The Nightmare Room
• John Ireland as Hank Walden – Satan’s Cheerleaders; Welcome to Arrow Beach; The House of Seven Corpses
• Erin Noble as Jenny Cordell
• Helen Hughes as Agatha Galen – The Amityville Curse; Blue Monkey; Visiting Hours; Evil Stalks This House
• Duncan McIntosh as Tim Galen
• Harvey Atkin as Joe Prescott
• Harry Ditson as Lieutenant Drivas
• Mitch Martin as Mandy Pullman
• Matt Birman as Roy Seeley
• Beverly Cooper as Pru Keaton
• Brian Young as Charlie Prescott
• Barbara Franklin as Mrs. Pullman
• Wes Lee as Mr. Pullman
• Neil Dainard as Ernie Barnes
• Jennifer Leak as Deena Ferrin
• Denise Fergusson as Carolyn Davies
• Jack Van Evera as Matt Davies
• Helene Udy as Sally Harper
• Lisa Bunting as Anita Barnes
• Michelle Davros as Jane Barnes
• Jefferson Mappin as Clem
• James Bearden as Lacey
• Alan Bridle as Interrogator
• Jude Beny as Witch
• Jeremy Hole a Torturer
• Brian Montague as Swimmer
• Dirk McLean as The Incubus

Filming locations:

Homewood Sanitarium, Guelph and Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Trivia:

Incubus features the metal band Samson, in the form of clips from Julian Temple’s short British film Biceps of Steel (1980). Bruce Dickinson, later lead singer in Iron Maiden, is featured in several shots.

Image credits: Too Much Horror Fiction

‘The nightmare that grabs you where you least expect it!’

Evil Clutch – original title: Il bosco 1 – is a 1988 Italian supernatural horror film written and directed by Andrea Marfori (Soviet Zombie Invasion). It stars Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Diego Ribon and Luciano Crovato.

The film was picked up and distributed worldwide by Troma Entertainment.

An American college student joins her Italian boyfriend for a romantic weekend trip. Along the way, they pick up a female hitchhiker who turns out to be a maniacal demon with a ferocious deadly claw-like hand…

Reviews:

“In the last 30 minutes things pick up and we are bombarded by diverse weirdness.  There is more crotch tentacle, weird monstrous (maybe tree root) tentacles, clothes-on zombie love, an unseen POV Evil Dead force rushing through the forest, crusty zombie attacks, bloody dismemberment and some weak demonic transformation. Yes, this may sound good…but it’s bad. Very, very bad.” John Leavengood, Movies, Films and Flix

“The plot is non-existent and confusing, the acting is dismal, some insane scenes reach a minimal level of twisted entertainment, and there are quite a few splatter scenes that you can see coming miles away.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

” …a lot of cheap-jack gore on display, including crushed hands, an exploding decapitated head, some chainsaw gore and a fish-hook in the face, but I found that no amount of unconvincing severed body parts and bloody wounds could possibly compensate for Marfori’s derivative visuals and incomprehensible script, the dreadful acting, dismal lighting, or Cataldi-Tassoni’s irritating non-stop hysterical screaming.” BA Harrison, IMDb

“Percentage wise, Evil Clutch is primarily just pointless tracking shots. But if you have a keen eye and can see what’s going on in between the long, aimless and pointless tracking shots you’ll find some hysterical garbage of the highest caliber.” Stankshadow, Letterboxd

“What you really need to take away from this review is that it is a boring, confusing, uninteresting movie that doesn’t really have anything going for it that you should stay away from […] I guess the long and the short of it is that you should avoid this movie like the plague.” Todd Martin, HorrorNews.net

Buy DVD: Amazon.com

“I’m fairly certain that only reason that Evil Clutch exists is that Andreas Marfori somehow got access to a steadicam and just started to film stuff. Somewhere along the line he decided to turn this into a shameless Evil Dead ripoff, filled to the brim with some gore and a shitload of padding and horrible horrible acting by Italian actors trying to speak English.” Joachim Andersson, Letterboxd

Cast and characters:

• Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni as Cindy
• Diego Ribon as Tony
• Luciano Crovato as Algernoon
• Elena Cantarone as Arva
• Stefano Molinari as Fango

Filming locations:

Capo Cotta Beach and Filacciano, Rome, Lazio, Italy
Giazza, Verona, Veneto, Italy

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Ash vs. Evil Dead’ Season 3 is confirmed for February 2018

Perhaps later than we’d hoped but it has been confirmed that Season 3 of Starz series Ash vs. Evil Dead will premiere on February 25, 2018.

“The third season finds Ash’s status in Elk Grove, Michigan has changed from murderous urban legend to humanity-saving hometown hero. When Kelly witnesses a televised massacre with Ruby’s fingerprints all over it, she returns with a new friend to warn Ash and Pablo that evil isn’t done with them yet. Blood is thicker than water in the battle of good vs Evil Dead!”

New TV series ‘Dark’ debuts soon

“Dark, a family saga with a supernatural twist, is set in a German town in present day where the disappearance of two young children exposes the double lives and fractured relationships among four families. In ten, hour-long episodes, the story takes on a supernatural twist that ties back to the same town in 1986.”

New German supernatural series Dark  premieres on December 1st on Netflix.

IFC Midnight snaps up North American rights to ‘Ghost Stories’

Variety reports that IFC Midnight has signed up the North American rights to Ghost Stories, the British supernatural thriller based on the stage production of the same name. It stars Martin Freeman (Cargo; The World’s End; Shaun of the Dead).

Ghost Stories will have its world premiere on Thursday at the BFI London Film Festival. The film was co-written and directed by Jeremy Dyson (“The League of Gentleman”) and Andy Nyman. Lionsgate own the UK rights.

In the film, Nyman plays Professor Goodman, a psychologist and skeptic, who has his rationality tested when he stumbles across a long-lost file containing details of three terrifying hauntings. He then embarks on a mission to find rational explanations for the ghostly happenings… [read more]

Nightmares Film Festival line-up

The Nightmares Film Festival 2017 in Ohio aims to present “a world-class assembly of the scariest, tensest, and most bizarre films from across the globe.” The festival, which runs from October 19th to 22nd, will showcase such features as:

• Victor Crowley w/Adam Green
• Leatherface
• Capture, Kill, Release
• Bong of the Living Dead
• 3 Dead Trick or Treaters
• Ruin Me
• Unnuyayuk
• Found Footage 3D
• 2 Pigeons
• Midnighters
• She Was So Pretty 2: Be Good for Goodness Sake
• Scars of Xavier
• Rock, Paper, Dead
• Hostile
• Romeo’s Distress
• I’m Dreaming of a White Doomsday
• Flesh of the Void
• Torment
• Le Accelerator
• Samurai Rauni

Plus masses of shorts over the four day festival. The full schedule is on their website

“Dream girls can be a nightmare” in ‘The Babysitter’

Young Cole is madly in love with his babysitter Bee. She’s seemingly cool and awesome in all the ways Cole thinks he isn’t. One evening while Bee is babysitting, Cole witnesses the unthinkable. Now he must survive a night full of first kisses, first broken hearts, and first encounters with homicidal maniacs…

McG (Terminator: Salvation) directed The Babysitter from a script by Brian Duffield (Insurgent). Samara Weaving, Judah Lewis, Hana Mae Lee, Robbie Amell, and Bella Thorne star.

The Babysitter comes to Netflix on October, Friday the 13th

The House of Lost Souls is a 1989 Italian horror film written and directed by Umberto Lenzi (Nightmare City; Cannibal Ferox; Seven Blood-Stained Orchids; et al). The Dania production stars Joseph Alan Johnson, Stefania Orsola Garello and Matteo Gazzolo.

The film is one of a four-part series made for Italian television under the umbrella title ‘Houses of Doom’. Genre directors Umberto Lenzi and Lucio Fulci each contributed two films for the series: Lenzi made The House of Lost Souls and House of Witchcraft, while Fulci offered House of Clocks and The Sweet House of Horrors. However, the movies were deemed too violent for TV and so were sold around the world for VHS release.

A group of young geologists who spend the night in an abandoned hotel haunted by the previous landlord’s murders of his family and all the hotel’s guests.

The bloody past come back to life with eerie occurrences like ghostly cries of pain, the appearance of corpses and tarantulas, and blood dripping from the ceiling.

Soon, the murders begin anew as the geologists are killed in bizarre and horrific ways, including one unlucky teenager who loses his head in a washing machine…

Reviews:

“The budget is obviously tiny, evidenced by the minimal locations, but this works in the films favour as the longer we spend in the motel with our doomed protagonists the more Lenzi allows the atmosphere and the environment to close in. The pace is respectably swift, and once the first head rolls the film never really lets up until the fiery finale.” Cosi Perversa

” …The House of Lost Souls is a pretty unoriginal affair – marred by an uninspired script and characters who behave annoyingly stupid. It does have its cheesy charms, however, and the creepy ghosts, stylish visions and inventive decapitations keep it interesting. If you liked Ghosthouse and the rest of Lenzi’s late 80s efforts you’ll probably enjoy this one too.” Johan Melle, Euro Fever

“The gore is kept to a minimum, most of it being gleaned from a series of decapitations, but it’s just about enough to satisfy the more bloodthirsty folks in the audience. Some of the ghostly apparitions are quite creepy, notably the wide-eyed Buddhist monk, but added to the other factors, what could have been memorable is actually cheesy and unintentionally hilarious.” Sarah Law, Gorepress

“The gore scenes are obviously toned down a bit and a promising scene with a chainsaw cuts away at precisely the wrong moment but we do get a bunch of nice decapitations. Add to this a halfway decent score by Claudio Simonetti [editor: recycled from Demons] using a pseudonym and we get a cozy little Italian exploitation movie.” Joachim Andersson, Rubber Monster Fetishism

Choice dialogue:

“How much longer is this torture going to go on, anyway?”

“We’ll have a big party. Spaghetti and chianti!”

Main cast:

• Joseph Alan Johnson – Iced; The Ghosts of Sodom; Berserker; The Slumber Party Massacre
• Stefania Orsola Garello
• Matteo Gazzolo – Body Puzzle; Specters
• Laurentina Guidotti
• Gianluigi Fogacci
• Hal Yamanouchi – Phantom of Death; Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals 
• Licia Colò
• Costantino Meloni
• Charles Borromel – Absurd
• Dino Jaksic
• Marina Reiner
• Beni Cardoso
• Fortunato Arena
• Massimo Sarchielli – Mother of Tears; Castle Freak; The House of Clocks
• Fabio Branchini

IMDb

Bewitched – original title: Gu – is a 1981 Hong Kong supernatural horror film directed by Chih-Hung Kuei (Hex after Hex; Curse of Evil; Corpse Mania; et al). It stars Fei Ai, Melvin Wong and Fanny Fen-Ni.

A semi-sequel, Mo aka The Boxer’s Omen, followed in 1983.

Wong, a Hong Kong detective, investigates the death of a girl, only to find out that the perpetrator is her father, Lam Wai.

Under interrogation, the grief-stricken father insists that he was obeying the will of an evil Thai wizard. Wong decides to travel to Thailand himself to investigate these claims but also becomes cursed…

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

” …the film is well made, with Kuei utilising weird colours and discordant music to drum up an other worldly atmosphere, effectively keeping the viewer on edge with the constant threat of surreal and unpredictable developments as black magic again and again shatters the rational peace of the modern world.” James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood

“This is still first and foremost an exploitation film, and among the many nasty bits are two elaborately staged duels between the monk and Magusu, the evil wizard. The first one is a staggeringly surreal 10 minute stand off between the magus and the necromancer. It’s filled with ghoulishly creative back and forth exchanges of various magical counter moves…” Cool Ass Cinema

“The scenes of the various voodoo ceremonies aren’t exactly scary and are really drawn out. The battles between the good and evil monks locked in mortal combat are pretty lame and the use of flashing lights and endless chanting gets repetitive after a while. There’s still some good stuff here.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

” …gleefully explores one weird or grotesque spell after another, displaying their nasty ingredients in detail and even showing the spell’s name as a scene title before it happens. The result is an endless stream of incantations, flying objects, remotely induced headaches, liquids extracted from corpses, maggot vomiting, drinking of fetus and viscera soup, crazy light effects, green pus, bat transformations, and lots more.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

“Gross stuff aside, this is quite aesthetically pleasing, as well. The art direction and settings are both superb, and the visual presentation, which uses film overlap, intentional blur and some really neat lighting trickery to cause colorful rainbow-like flickers to emerge from various light sources is also great.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

“Kuei Chi Hung directs this prequel of sorts to The Boxer’s Omen in genuine Hong Kong exploitation fashion, combining horror with gore and many disgusting images. However, the film is quite technically accomplished, with great art direction and visuals…” Panos Kotzathanasis, Taste of Cinema

Filming locations:

Hong Kong
Pattaya, Thailand

IMDb | Image credits: The Bloody Pit of Horror

Slaughterhouse Rock is a 1988 American supernatural horror film directed by Dimitri Logothetis from a screenplay by Sandra Willard, Nora Goodman and Ted Landon. It stars pop singer Toni Basil, and features five songs by new wave band Devo.

Alex Gardner (Nicholas Celozzi), a college student suffers from recurring nightmares in which he experiences the deaths of the victims of a vicious killer who lived on Alcatraz, before it became a prison.

When the nightmares begin manifesting in reality, and his friends see him hovering over his bed, his teacher (Donna Denton), an occultist, tells him to go to the island to face down the ghost of the killer.

The friends become stranded on the island, and Alex’s brother Richard (Tom Reilly) becomes possessed, killing some friends and raping one of the girls. Alex is aided in his quest by the ghost of Sammy Mitchell (Toni Basil), a singer for rock band Bodybag…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

88 Films is releasing Slaughterhouse Rock in the UK on Blu-ray and DVD on 22 January 2018. The previous British release, by MGM/UA on VHS as Hell Island, was cut 1m 14s by the BBFC.

Reviews:

“Slaughterhouse Rock promoted as a rock horror film, ends up being more of a silly attempt at using Alcatraz as a set with Basil popping in for spiritual guidance […] MTV cheesy visual effects using colored lighting and smog machines are used throughout the production often replacing its horror aspect with something from a set of Motley Crue.” HorrorNews.net

“Aside from an unpleasant demonic rape scene it is a goofy teens-versus-monsters scenario, heavy on gloopy gore, light on suspense and actual scares. None of the lead characters are especially engaging (save for the intriguing Carolyn, though it is unclear why her character is here and suffers so much) which makes the early scenes of inane chatter and florid, over-written dialogue kind of a chore.” Andrew Pragasm, The Spinning Image

“Music by Devo was this ghastly film’s bright spot. It’s an incomprehensible cannibal demon possession teenager horror pic, with some black comedy thrown into the mix. So-so director Dimitri Logothetis (The Closer/The Lost Angel/Cheyenne) tries for every horror pic cliche thrill.” Dennis Schwartz, Ozus’ World Movie Reviews

“Adopting the smoky, stylized look of music videos for much of its running time, the film plays like a college/prison gumbo of films like Demons, Trick or Treat, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Witchboard, with enough gore and bare skin to make audiences happy and enough stupidity to make critics pull out their knives.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

” …every moment in this film is taken from a better, more entertaining movie. Which sums up this movie perfectly. Sure, not every horror movie stars Toni Basil and is loaded with late ’80s era Devo songs, but there are literally hundreds of horror movies that are better than this piece of crap.” House of Self Indulgence

“The only brief bright spot is Steve Brian Smith, who is amusing as Alex’s wisecracking friend. According to the production notes, Mr. Smith, a stand-up comic, wrote many of his own lines. He should have written the others.” Caryn James, The New York Times

Main cast and characters:

• Toni Basil … Sammy Mitchell
• Nicholas Celozzi … Alex Gardner
• Tom Reilly … Richard Gardner
• Donna Denton … Carolyn Harding
• Hope Marie Carlton … Krista Halpern
• Tammy Hyler … Jan Squire
• Steven Brian Smith … Jack
• Ty Miller … Marty
• Al Fleming … The Commandant and Monster
• Michael J. Scherlis … Tour Guide

Release:

USA: The film was given a limited theatrical release by Taurus Entertainment Company in May 1988. It was released on VHS by Sony Video. A Code Red Blu-ray was released in 2016.

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Mondo Digital

Related: Prison (1987)

George ‘Buck’ Flower – October 28, 1937 – June 18, 2004 – was an American actor, writer, producer, assistant director, production manager, and casting director.

Born in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon, Flower enlisted in the army as a teenager and enrolled at Eastern Oregon College following his military service. He then moved to California and attended Pasadena City College, becoming a member of the repertory theatre group. From here, his career took in over a hundred appearances in film, both in front and behind the camera – these included a great number of horror and genre films, in which, most regularly, he appeared as a bum-type character.

Flower was never afraid of using his physical appearance – he was always somewhat overweight and had the facial features which, politely, lent themselves to someone who was happy to play the drunk; tramp; hobo; crazy old guy in the background.

His wide variety of roles in sometimes jarringly different genres, led to him acting under a number of different names: Ernest Wall, Buck Flower, George “Buck” Flower, George Flower, Buck Flowers, Igor, Sherman Backus, Mick Courter, C. D. LaFleur, C.D. LaFleure, C.D. Lafleuer, and C.D. Lafleur!

Flower’s early film career saw him appearing, often un-credited, in adult comedies (often with the emphasis on the sexual rather than the chortlesome). Beginning with 1970’s Country Cuzzins, through gems such as Satan’s Lust (1971), The Sex Prophet (1973, as Igor) and Suckula (1973), he found himself much favoured by notorious producer, Harry H. Novak, the first of many producers and directors who would latch onto the actor and feature him numerous times.

Suckula (1973)

By 1975, Flower was beginning to get “named” roles in films: the likes of Candy Tangerine Man (1975); Criminally Insane (1975) and Johnny Firecloud have seen reissues and minor cult followings in the years since, though it was as Binz in the same year’s Ilsa: She-Wolf of the S.S. that he achieved his first named role in a film that has attained a level of meaningful standing (of sorts).

Flower also appeared in Ilsa, Harem Keeper of the Oil Sheiks in 1976 and a film which achieved a level of infamy which even outranked these, The Witch Who Came in From the Sea, banned by the BBFC in the UK and one of the 72 titles on the infamous ‘video nasties’ list. His daughter, Verkina Flower, also appeared in the film as a youthful flashback of Molly – one of a handful of onscreen and off-screen roles she had in horror and genre films. Buck also acted as casting director on the film.

Flower was seemingly always working – tiny, often uncredited, roles in forgettable fare – Devil’s Ecstasy (1976); Drive In Massacre (1976 – he was a suspect with a machete, but also co-writer of the screenplay); Killer’s Delight (1978) had the actor in blink and you miss it parts, though 1980’s role as a drunk (of course) fisherman in The Fog (1980), saw the first of no fewer than six John Carpenter films appearing on his CV.  His breakout role was typically under-key yet in keeping with his stock trade – that of “bum” in 1985’s Back to the Future (as well as its sequel).

Back to the Future (1985)

Flower fit a huge amount of TV work (the usual opportunities for bit-part actors – The Dukes of Hazzard; NYPD Blue; L.A. Law) around further horror film roles – notably, Maniac Cop (1988); Pumpkinhead (1988); Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama (1988), though even these gave way to sequels which were best left forgotten – 976-EVIL II and Waxwork II: Lost in Time being typical. One of his last horror genre roles was in Wishmaster – inevitably as “homeless man”. Flower died from cancer, aged sixty-six, in 2004.

They Live (1988)

Selected filmography:

Satan’s Lust (1971)

The Daring Dobermans (1973)

The Devil and Leroy Bassett (1973)

Sucklula (1973)

Criminally Insane (1975)

The Candy Tangerine Man (1975)

Johnny Firecloud (1975)

Ilsa: She-Wolf of the S.S. (1975)

Invisible Man (TV series, 1975)

The Witch Who Came in From the Sea (1976)

Ilsa, Harem of the Oil Sheiks (1976)

Deep Jaws (1976)

Devil’s Ecstasy (1976 , voice only)

Drive-In Massacre (1976)

Killer’s Delight (1978)

The Capture of Bigfoot (1979)

The Fog (1980)

Escape from New York (1981)

Starman (1984)

Back to the Future (1985)

The Night Stalker (1986)

Berserker (1987)

Bates Motel (TV movie, 1987)

Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama (1987)

Maniac Cop (1988)

Pumpkinhead (1988)

Cheerleader Camp (1988)

They Live (1988)

The American Scream (1988)

Death Nurse 2 (1988)

Speak of the Devil (1989)

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat (1989)

Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Relentless (1989)

Spontaneous Combustion (1989)

Dead Men Don’t Die (1990)

Puppet Master II (1990)

Blood Games (1990)

Camp Fear (1991)

976-EVIL II (1991)

Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)

Mirror Images (1992)

Munchie (1992)

Warlock: The Armageddon (1993)

Body Bags (The Gas Station segment,1993)

Ripper Man (1995)

Village of the Damned (1995)

Dark Breed (1996)

Bloodsuckers (1997)

Skeletons (TV movie, 1997)

Wishmaster (1997)

The Curse of the Komodo (2004)

They Are Among Us (2004)

Oltretomba is an Italian ‘fumetti’ horror comic book series created in 1971 by Stanley Baldock and Dino Leonetti and published by Ediperiodici. It became one of the most famous comic series of its type; in the 1970s the series was also published in France, Spain and Germany.

The comic book was published from June 1971 to September 1986. Three hundred issues and several supplements such as ‘colore’ and ‘gigante’ were also released.

Initially, the erotic component was minor but began to grow until by the late 1980s when Otretomba became almost hardcore in content.

List of issues:

1. I morti viventi (Sergio Rosi)
2. L’orrenda maschera (Studio Rosi)
3. La succhiatrice di sangue (Sergio Rosi)
4. Il necrofilo (G.Montanari)
5. La casa degli scheletri (F.Tacconi)
6. La vendetta dei Druidi (I.Pavone)
7. Cuore di cane (F.Tacconi)
8. Maledetti da Dio (A.Bonato)
9. Il teschio di Rasputin (V.Missaglia)
10. Lo strangolatore di Soho
11. Tragico segreto (S.Fenzo)
12. La bara della bambola (Studio Rosi)
13. la note degli orrori (A.Bonato)
14. Requiescat in pace (S.Micheloni)
15. Le statue morte (Sergio Montipò)
16. Il mulino maledetto (F.Tacconi)
17. La droga dei cadaveri (G.Montanari)
18. è la notte di matilda (Sergio Montipò)
19. La cancrena verde (S.Micheloni)
20. Delitto e castigo (F.Tacconi)
21. La lunga agonia di Patty (U.Sammarini)
22. La vendetta di Alboino (F.Tacconi)
23. La quadriglia infernale (Malvesy)
24. le voci del cimitero di kebek (T.Marchioro)
25. orgia di sangue (C.Zuffi)
26. La figlia dei lupi E.Dell’Acqua)
27. i bianchi seni della maimuna (S.Micheloni)
28. la sultana infernale (F.Tacconi)
29. la fredda carezza (S.Fenzo)
30. roberto il diavolo (Malvesy)
31. loscrigno dei maccabei (Malvesy)
32. la vendetta del maligno (Malvesy)
33. tre zombi per una vergine (Segrelles)
34. Il passo del demonio (T.Marchioro)
35. la vendetta dei globi di fuoco (V. De La Fuente)
36. resurrezione
37. il terribile odore di satana (Pena)
38. l’idrofoba (Azpiri)
39. L’orrendo intestino (S.Micheloni)
40. cadavere chiama cadavere (Pena)
41. il cammino delle streghe (O.Benni)
42. gli alberi sognanti (Pena)
43. L’esercito dei morti (Malvesy)
44. lo spettro di robespierre
45. sotto il segno del vampirus (Azpiri)
46. il ritratto che uccide (Studio Rosi)
47. Il diavolo non paga il sabato (Pena)
48. la chiave maledetta ( R.R.)
49. papé satan aleppe (V. De La Fuente)
50. le rosse pupille di hilde (Bellalta)
51. dal ventre della morte (G.Pinto)
52. il segreto del labirinto (Azpiri)
53. i cavalieri dell’apocalisse (Segrelles)
54. filmato satana
55. in caso di sepoltura
56. lo stupro gemellare (Pena)
57. tam tam per uno schiavista (Segrelles)
58. le tragiche notti della candelora (F.Verola)
59. autoritratto di morte
60. torquemada ’70
61. gli immortali di stonehenge (Pena)
62. i fantasmi assassini
63. polvere sei, zombi diventerai! (Malvesy)
64. nebbia verde (Malvesy)
65. madama ghigliottina (Pena)
66. il prestigiatore
67. la città dei mostri
68. il cimitero degli apaches (F.Verola)
69. la condanna del deserto (Segrelles)
70. l’immondo regno (Pena)
71. il mostro della cava di sale (V. De La Fuente)
72. testa o morte (Segrelles)
73. dio maledi il serpente
74. Metempsicosi
75. i marmi vaganti (Azpiri)
76. catacombe infernali (F.Verola)
77. la maledizione dei rochester
78. Reincarnazione (Segrelles)
79. baby killer
80. morbosamente (Ivo Milazzo)
81. il gatto nero (Azpiri)
82. il serpente a due teste (F.Verola)
83. loha il mostro sacro (F.Verola)
84. addio, figli crudeli! (Nadir Quinto)
85. i sesso invasati
86. Cuore di strega (Nadir Quinto)
87. tre passi nell’aldilà (P.Ongaro)
88. Il vicolo misterioso
89. Hydrophobie (F.Verola)
90. Perversione (P.Ongaro)
91. la vergine della notte (Jesus Duran)
92. la sibilla cumana (Azpiri)
93. chiari segni di lussuria (Segrelles)
94. il pupazzo rojo (Studio Rosi)
95. l’ultima curva
96. Un grido dal mare (Aparici)
97. La mano del fantasma (Jesus Duran)
98. il mostro della lussuria
99. Il venditore di morte (Jesus Duran)
100. la giustizia degli inferi
101. la dama bianca di norimberga
102. il ghigno della svastica
103. omicidio legale (G. De Fiore/Studio Rosi)
104. gli occhi che vedevano la morte
105. la sabbia omicida
106. il vizio e la virtù (Pierluigi Del Mas)
107. il letto della virginità
108. adorabilmente gelida (Azpiri)
109. la medium delle stragi (V.Missaglia)
110. gli amanti cannibali (F.Verola)
111. la signora di panama (Azpiri)
112. Mors tua, vita mea (S.Micheloni)
113. la locanda della morte (S.Micheloni)
114. l’urlo di carol
115. la miniera dei diavoli (V.Missaglia)
116. il fiordo della lussuria (M.Cubbino)
117. unosbocco di sangue?
118. nel segno della lucertola (Sergio Rosi)
119. brividi e orgasmi
120. Amanti diabolici (Romano Mangiarano)
121. transfert (F.Verola)
122. le figli della luna (F.Blanc/Studio Giolitti)
123. La schiava numida
124. Il massacratore solitario (M.Cubbino)
125. gli alunni di satana
126. come nasce una strega
127. l’ectoplasma coniugale (F.Blanc)
128. cassa di prima classe (M.Cubbino)
129. lingua di cane
130. condanna senza fine (F.Blanc/Studio Giolitti)
131. l.s.d. (Aparici)
132. Carne fresca (L. Sorgini)
133. l’incubo (F.Blanc/Studio Giolitti)
134. Mostro nascerai (Azpiri)
135. il sepolto vivo
136. sangue per un crociato (Pierluigi Del Mas)
137. il cadavere assassino (S. Micheloni)
138. il seme del coccodrillo (F.Blanc/Studio Giolitti)
139. delitto d’onore
140. stregoneria (S.Romagnoli/Studio Leonetti)
141. piacere rosso (“E.Puttades”)
142. accelera, fred
143. Sangue giovane (Antonio Borrell)
144. Il cadavere insepolto
145. satana minorenne (F.Blanc)
146. bocca a bocca col cadavere
147. Sangue chiama sangue (Sergio Tuis)
148. il profumo di satan
149. Musica crudele (F.Blanc)
150. il tredicesimo tocco
151. l’impuro
152. oro e follia
153. predestinazione (“E.Puttades”)
154. suggestione (F.Blanc)
155. la belva del gevaudan (“Francesco” alias Xavier Musquera)
156. vizi di famiglia (“Vagi”)
157. plante grasse (L.Sorgini)
158. formula magica
159. donna di picche
160. di nome jack. (Studio Leonetti)
161. il sapore della vendetta (Esteban Polls)
162. salto nelle tenebre (F.Blanc)
163. il legionario
164. funesti presagi (Angelo Todaro)
165. il treno fantasma (Antonio Borrell)
166. la fattucchiera (Xavier Musquera)
167. nel segno di nefertis
168. il cembalo scrivano (Juan Aparici)
169. il grande mago
170. la moglie di tutti (V.Missaglia)
171. spiritismo
172. per l’onore (S.Micheloni)
173. il vento e il morto (G. Dalla Santa)
174. scacco matto (G. Dalla Santa)
175. in regata col diavolo? (Jesus Duran)
176. Il becchino (Xavier Musquera)
177. razza animale (Azpiri)
178. lo stregone abissino (Esteban Polls)
179. manicomio criminale (Antonio Borrell)
180. alter ego
181. limbo (Azpiri)
182. il gobbo (Azpiri)
183. la coyotera (G. Dalla Santa)
184. il gatto a dieci code (J.Aparici)
185. il segreto di luxor
186. barbudos
187. la lamia (Sanchez)
188. immonda creatura (Antonio Borrell)
189. lo jettatore (Antonio Borrell)
190. pornoreporter? (Studio Montanari)
191. sinistri cigolii
192. claustrofobia (V.Missaglia)
193. l’urlo della mandragora (Xavier Musquera)
194. sonnambulismo (Jesus Duran)
195. p*rno shop (Studio Montanari)
196. braccio della morte (Sanchez)
197. concerto maledetto (Xavier Musquera)
198. occhio macabro (Pierluigi Del Mas)
199. l’eterno custode (Sanchez)
200. alice nel paese degli orrori (J.Aparici)
201. il fantasma di hiroshima (V.Missaglia)
202. la figlia del vulcano (Pierluigi Del Mas)
203. andante… solenne… con morte! (Antonio Borrell)
204. Agopuntura (Xavier Musquera)
205. numeri fatali (Azpiri)
206. il mahatma
207. fossili (Azpiri)
208. pelle nera (V.Missaglia)
209. mastini (G. Dalla Santa)
210. l’amica erotica (Azpiri)
211. Il bastardo (G. Dalla Santa)
212. Stillicidio (Sanchez)
213. il teschio che ride (Vladimiro Missaglia
214. rose proibite (Azpiri)
215. ghigliottina (Jesus Duran)
216. il faro maledetto (Xavier Musquera)
217. erede universale (Jesus Duran)
218. Foglie morte (Angelo Todaro)
219. perle nere (Esteban Polls)
220. il servitore della garrota (Jesus Duran)
221. cuore di pietra
222. delirium (Azpiri)
223. accadde a Venezia (Sanchez)
224. tomba prenotata
225. atti impuri (Antonio Borrell)
226. sindrome di donna (J.Aparici)
227. la prostituta delle tombe (Azpiri)
228. né morto né vivo (Xavier Musquera)
229. Pesce d’aprile (J.Aparici)
230. Una mosca nel bulo (Sanchez)
231. rosso sangue
232. Gli occhi di tenebra
233. morte programmata (Azpiri)
234. l’ombra di jack (Xavier Musquera)
235. il piffero parlante (Sanchez)
236. majorettes (Jesus Duran)
237. gatta ci cova (Esteban Polls)
238. tarocchi
239. malaugurio (Azpiri)
240. vento freddo (G. Dalla Santa)
241. preveggenza (J.Aparici)
242. dal sonno alla morte (Jesus Duran)
243. sanguemisto (Esteban Polls)
244. loto d’oro (Jesus Duran)
245. Sati (Esteban Polls)
246. Violenza occulta (Jesus Duran)
247. lupus in fabula (J.Aparici)
248. espazione (Xavier Musquera)
249. tormenti infernali
250. Vizio segreto (Lorenzo Lepori)
251. Bocca muta (Pier Carlo Macchi)
252. Il patto di Janira
253. La quercia dei supplizi (Dino Simeoni)
254. Possessione spettrale (Pier Carlo Macchi)
255. Il cimitero Dei Peccatori
256. La regina delle tenebre (Lorenzo Lepori)
257. nel nome della morte
258. la cripta maledetta (Dino Simeoni)
259. La notte del maleficio (Pier Carlo Macchi)
260. Il sonno dei morti
261. la dannata (S.Micheloni)
262. Fascino sepolcrale (Lorenzo Lepori)
263. la casa nella tempesta (Pier Carlo Macchi)
264. Ragnatele (Jesus Duran)
265. La Dea del Dolore (Pier Carlo Macchi)
266. il collegio delle impiccate (Dino Simeoni)
267. Jolly (Lorenzo Lepori)
268. Satana nero (Pier Carlo Macchi)
269. la morte improvvisa (Lorenzo Lepori)
270. profezia (Lorenzo Lepori)
271. ossessione macabra (Staff di Iff)
272. gli artigli della gelosia (Dino Simeoni)
273. La maledizione sepolta (Pier Carlo Macchi)
274. offerta maligna (Dino Simeoni)
275. stupro satanico. (Dino Simeoni)
276. La fossa degli scheletri (G. Dalla Santa)
277. L’inferno pub attendere (Emilio Cecchetto)
278. Il cacciatore di streghe (Eugenio Forte)
279. L’oscuro sadismo (Emilio Cecchetto)
280. fluido malefico (Eugenio Forte)
281. stato comatoso (Jesus Duran)
282. Jezabel (G. Dalla Santa)
283. L’insana passione (Dino Simeoni)
284. Magua (Xavier Musquera)
285. sogni arabi (Eugenio Forte)
286. guai ai folletti (Emilio Cecchetto)
287. tragica ossessione (Dino Simeoni)
288. La figlia della morte (Pier Carlo Macchi)
289. gelosia mortale (Eugenio Forte)
290. il culto di moloch (Emilio Cecchetto)
291. La stampa erotica (Xavier Musquera)
292. La caserma dei fantasmi (Staff di Iff)
293. la silfide (Eugenio Forte)
294. il diario della morte (Pier Carlo Macchi)
295. tragica notte (Dino Simeoni)
296. cadaveri di cuoio (Jesus Duran)
297. La dottoressa Faust (Emilio Cecchetto)
298. Volpi umane (Vladimiro Missaglia)
299. La macchina anatomica (Aparici)
300. Stirpe di giganti (Lorenzo Lepori)

Wikipedia (Italian) | Image credits: Comic Vine

‘When Mark Walters throws a party… even Freddy and Jason wouldn’t dare to come!’

Hollowgate – promoted as Hollow Gate – is a 1988 American slasher horror film written and directed by Ray Di Zazzo, his only feature. It stars Addison Randall, Katrina Alexy, and Richard Dry.

At a Halloween party, a young boy named Mark Walters is almost killed by his drunken, alcoholic father.

Ten years later, Mark begins a bizarre murder spree, adopting different killer guises…

Reviews:

“The acting is never going to win any awards, the plot is filled with clichés we’ve all seen dozens of times before, and it’s lacking suspense, gore, and nudity, three trademarks of a slasher movie. But despite that, I really did like this movie. I found it to be quite enjoyable in a cheesy sort of way.” James Oxyler, Obscure Cinema 101

” …maybe I should’ve given it a chance as an inadvertent comedy. There’s enough rubbish dialogue, horrendous acting and the like for it to satisfy cheese fans, but for me it was irredeemable.” Luisito Joaquin Gonzalez, A Slash Above…

“Low body count, rubbish gore, characters who should die but don’t – this is only made bearable by the bewildering lack of acting talent.” Vegan Voorhees

“There really aren’t any real scares to be found, just unintentionally funny scenes. That in itself me be the one saving grace of Hollow Gate, that it’s one of those films so inept, that it can actually be quite funny and entertaining at times, because of this.” Ronnie Angel, Slashed Dreams: The Ultimate Guide to Slasher Films

Buy Slashed Dreams: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“Hollow Gate: an asinine and totally unsuccessful body counter that, when viewed as a straight horror film, deserves its obscurity, but when viewed as a bad film, arguably deserves a wider rep. It is truly one unbelievably crappy film.” A Wasted Life

“Most of the deaths are as laughable as the emotional performances given by the “teen” actors (who deserve a review all to themselves). It’s not too often you get to see a combine (which goes a whopping 5 mph) used to chase down a victim. More significantly, Hollow Gate brings about what might be the very first ever on screen dog attack featuring golden retrievers.” Chuck Norris Ate My Baby

“Hollow Gate features very little in the way of special effects and the acting is of pantomime standard. Too many characters are introduced simply to be killed off moments later, and it all gets pretty boring after a while.” Jim Harper, Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies

Buy Legacy of Blood Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

Choice dialogue:

Mark: “Happy Halloween, you filthy old hag!”

Main cast:

Addison Randall, Katrina Alexy, Richard Dry, Patricia Jacques, J.J. Miller, George Cole, Robert Gallo, Pat Shalsant, Jerry Marble, Jeffrey Culver, Mario Hernandez, Ted Buck, Biff Yeager.

Filming locations:

Oklahoma, USA

IMDb | Image credits: A Wasted Life

HORRORPEDIA on social media:  Facebook | Google+ | Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter

Plot keywords:

abusive father | alcoholic | combine harvester | convenience store | dogs | gas station | grandma | Halloween | hospital | ice cream | judge | knife | lawyers | murder | panties | party | policemen | wig

‘Lance Hayward’s acting career may be over …but he’s still knocking them DEAD!’

Bloody Movie – originally known as Terror Night – is a 1987 American slasher horror film directed by Nick Marino (producer of Death House) from a screenplay co-written with Murray Levy and Kenneth J. Hall (The Clown at Midnight; Evil Spawn; The Tomb), based on a story by David Riggs. The movie stars John Ireland, Cameron Mitchell and Alan Hale Jr.

Veteran filmmaker André De Toth (House of Wax) apparently co-directed but the degree of his involvement is unknown.

Terror Night was unreleased until 2004 when it finally emerged on DVD with a title change to Bloody Movie.

Lance Hayward, a silent Hollywood movie star presumed dead, appears as various characters, killing a handful of unfortunates, using various weapons…

Reviews:

“With a storyline revolving around vintage movies and appearances by some recognizable has-beens, the film has more of a camp quality than horror. It’s not the worst of the genre, but it’s not the best. It’s a bit simple and unexciting.” Daniel W. Kelly, DVD Talk

Having the killer dress as everything from a swashbuckling pirate to an Arabian Prince keeps things zipping along at a nice pace, and takes the similar idea from Fade to Black (1980), which promised to be a slasher but never really was. It also means that the killer is never short of handy weapons. Terror Night is deliciously gooey.”

“An idea also used by the same year’s Doom Asylum, of incorporating clips from old movies to help move the picture along, makes for fresh-for-then moments that go with the comedic and cheesy edges. A good numbered body count, slapstick and colorful small characters keep things alive while the annoying, cardboard, uninspired cast doddles around.” Josh G., Oh, the Horror!

” …every time someone gets killed, there’s a needless montage of clips of Hayward’s films, posters, and lobby cards interspersed with the murder […] But still, if you want to see lots of character actors getting killed off and 80’s p*rn stars and scream queens getting naked, you really can’t go wrong with Bloody Movie.” Mitch Lovell, Bloody Movie

“The gore is plenty too. Cheap and corny, but bloody. One character is ripped apart, one is decapitated, there’s impalings and strangulations. Not bad at all, but never convincing. It feels like a bloody and adult episode of Scooby-Doo.” Fred Anderson, Ninja Dixon

“There are moments of comedy mixed in with some surprisingly mean-spirited death scenes. Necks are snapped. Heads are chopped off. Bodies are split in half. It all gets rather messy and the presence of all those old time actors makes the sudden gore scenes feel all the more strange.” Lisa Marie Bowman, Through the Shattered Lens

“The mostly amateur and p*rn star cast erotically reveal their bodies and give the pic a goofy flavor, while has-been actors like Aldo Ray (playing a crazy old drunkard), Cameron Mitchell (a detective who is strangled and hung ) and Alan Hale Jr. (a security guard who lives) pick up an easy pay check for their hammy cameos running from 3 to 5 minutes.” Dennis Schwartz, Ozus’ World Movie Reviews

Choice dialogue:

“I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we split up and go in different rooms?”

Main cast:

• John Ireland – Incubus; Satan’s Cheerleaders; The House of Seven Corpses; et al
• Cameron Mitchell – Terror on Tape; The Demon; The Toolbox Murders; Nightmare in Wax; Blood and Black Lace; et al
• Alan Hale Jr. – The Giant Spider Invasion; The Crawling Hand
• Staci Greason
• William Butler
• Michelle Bauer – Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers; The Tomb; Terror on Tape; et al
• Timothy Elwell
• Carla Baron
• Ken Abraham
• Todd Starks
• John Stuart Wildman
• Aldo Ray – Biohazard; Evils in the Night; Star Slammer; Bog; et al
• Dan Haggerty – Axe Giant: The Wrath of Paul Bunyan; The Chilling; Elves
• Tom Durkin
• Jamie Summers

Filming locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

IMDb

‘ …When renting is not enough!!’

Video violence is a 1987 American horror film directed by Gary P. Cohen from a screenplay co-written with Paul Kaye. It stars Gary Schwartz, Chick Kaplan and Robin Leeds.

Writer/director Gary P. Cohen conceived the idea for the film while working as a video store clerk. A fan of the Golden Age of Hollywood, he was disheartened by the fact that horror films, particularly slashers, were the most popular films among his clientele.

The idea for Video Violence originated one afternoon when a young mother with her children asked if the film I Dismember Mama contained any sex. Cohen informed her that he was unsure about the film’s sexual content but that he knew it contained graphic violence. The woman decided to rent the film, telling Cohen that as long as the film were devoid of sex, she considered it appropriate viewing for her children.

The same exchange occurs in Video Violence, concerning the film Blood Cult (1986). Cohen had initially secured the use of a local access television station to edit the film over the course of two six-hour shifts. When the station owner found out that Cohen was editing a horror film, he reneged on the agreement and only permitted Cohen the use of the station for two hours during the second shift.

After the film’s editing was complete, Cohen shopped it around to multiple distributors, only two of which responded. Cohen sold the rights to Camp Video because they were the only ones to offer to design video box art.

Unsuspecting couple Steve and Rachel become completely immersed in a town of blood-drunk crazies. Led by sickos Howard and Eli, these backwater psychopaths produce and watch their own snuff movies, in which the victims are outsiders or citizens trying to leave the close-knit community of killers.

One day, an unmarked tape shows up in the return bin of Steve’s just-opened video store, and it’s the town postmaster being savagely mutilated. “Can it be real, or just a gag?” wonders Steve. He’ll soon discover the horrifying answer…

Reviews:

“Video Violence uses the shot on video look to make the movie more realistic and provide a commentary on the times. It truly defines itself as the definitive shot on video masterpiece because it actually makes what is normally considered inferior in the shot on video format superior.” Brett H., Oh, the Horror

“Sometimes it takes itself very seriously, but other times it seems to be trying to be one of those black comedy/horror movies along the lines of Psychos in Love or Blood Diner. Frequently, though, it doesn’t even know whether to be one of those two directions, resulting in a story that’s both slow-moving and filled with scenes that do little to nothing in advancing the plot.” The Unknown Movies

“Equal parts chilling (again, aided and abetted by its ultra-cheap production values, rather than coming across in spite of them), and downright hysterical  (Howard and Eli, bless ’em, are truly entertaining psychopaths), with some effective low-grade gore and a pleasing DIY-vibe throughout, this is the kind of movie that all backyard filmmakers wish they could make, but few actually possess the skill to.” Ryan C., Trash Film Guru

“Bad acting, slow pace, dull plot. The camp should have raised this to H.G. Lewis territory, but, unfortunately, it lacks the charm, and the abundant gore ranges from terribly fake to weak.” The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre

Choice dialogue:

Rick Carlson: “I’m dying to see what these yokels consider entertainment!”

Steven Emory: “And all these people want are horror movies and slasher films. And occasionally a XXX-er from the back!”

Release:

In 2007, Camp Motion Pictures released the film on DVD including the sequel Video Violence 2. On September 13, 2011, it was released again as part of The Basement Special Edition.

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘It’s a tradition’

The American Scream is a 1988 American comedy horror film written and directed by Mitchell Linden (his sole feature). The movie stars Pons Maar, Jennifer Darling and Matthew Borlenghi.

Everybody’s average family: Two unmanageable teens, a stress riddled, bumbling father, and his ever present whining wife – Meet the Benzigers. They think they’re taking a trouble free trip to a mountain resort… Think again!

This winter wonderland is a perfect setting for the evil rituals and unorthodox traditions that take place. This is no holiday! It’s holy hell and no one has a prayer. A bloody transformation of roles turns the tortured teens into adults themselves. Some kids would kill to be adults. These kids may have to…

Reviews:

“It’s done so poorly and it’s just beyond strange. The characters are all dumb. The dad is one of the most annoying people ever. No-one reacts to what’s going on like a normal human would. It attempts humor but fails. Just an odd movie.” Lynden Clark, Letterboxd

“There’s a decent amount of blood shed and a fun decapitation scene with a wink. Then there’s an icky blood and snot combination. Neither of these things could save this film. Not even Edy Williams nor Debra Lamb. Most of these scenes were filmed in slow motion. I guess the director was trying to be artsy?” Rebekeh Herzberg, Geek Juice Media

“Not only are the characters obnoxious, annoying and stupid, but the tone of the entire film is highly inconsistent. Neither the comedy nor the horror works, the scenes transitions are awful and the supernatural aspects to the story are barely even established. T&A is provided by at least four different women…” The Bloody Pit of Horror

Main cast: 

Pons Maar (The Blob; Dead Heat), Jennifer Darling, Matthew Borlenghi, Riley Weston, Kevin Kaye, Jeanne Sapienza, James Cooper, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Bob Buchholz, Constance Pfeifer, Blackie Dammett, Warren Cann, Bill Johnson, Jack Jozefson, Ron Lavery.

Trivia:

Director and writer of The American Scream Mitchell Linden was ‘best boy grip’ for Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Under the Bridge’ music video

IMDb

Satanic Attraction – original title: Atração Satânica – is a 1989 Brazilian supernatural horror film directed by Fauzi Mansur (Ritual of Death) from a screenplay co-written with Filipe Grecco; it stars Ênio Gonçalves, Gabriela Toscano and André Loureiro.

Disc jockey Fernanda (Gabriela Toscano) presents a radio show in which she reads out chapters from a book that she is writing about gruesome satanic rituals and sex murders.

Unfortunately, when bodies start turning up around town killed in exactly the way Fernanda describes on her show, it looks like someone is following her show and enacting out the grisly murders she describes on air…

Reviews [contains spoilers]:

” …our killer boasts some crazy kills like an effectively messy double impaling, pickaxing, and a visceral killing spree that might also be the best scene from the entire film. Everything ends predictably and never bothered answering any of the important details. Still, I’m not saying I didn’t have fun with this.” Sticky Red

“When we reach the film’s conclusion, it just gets silly as one twist that was easy to predict gives way to yet another. Unfortunately, Satanic Attraction is a major let down in every respect. It’s hardly worth tracking down for the excessive gore and all that’s left is a long corridor of confusion and horrendous acting.” A Slash Above…

“Atração Satânica is not really a good film, but it is a pretty entertaining one. The plot is extremely muddled and confusing. The bad guys aren’t given much motivation aside from brief mention of someone needing to “bear the master’s son,” and very little of the supernatural plot is adequately explained.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

IMDb | Image credits: The Bloody Pit of Horror | A Slash Above…

‘A terrifying force that cannot be resisted is here’

Prime Evil is a 1988 American supernatural horror film directed by Roberta Findlay (Lurkers; Blood Sisters; The Oracle; Snuff) from a screenplay by Ed Kelleher (Voodoo Dolls; Shriek of the Mutilated; Invasion of the Blood Farmers) and Harriette Vidal. It stars William Beckwith, Christine Moore and Mavis Harris.

In New York, a coven of devil-worshiping monks search for victims for their sacrificial ceremonies…

Buy Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray: Amazon.com

Both films are newly restored in 2K from their 35mm original camera negatives.

• Region free Blu-ray/DVD combo pack
• Newly scanned and restored in 2k from the 35mm original camera negative
• Commentary track for Prime Evil with director Roberta Findlay
• Original theatrical trailers for both films
• TV spots for both films
• Isolated soundtrack for both films
• Reversible cover artwork
• English SDH subtitles

Reviews:

“The only real disappointment was the demon at the end. I didn’t find it scary at all… just messy and almost unrecognisable as anything really. Prime Evil was entertaining, it had a strong premise, and some great performances, but it wasn’t executed well enough in the final analysis to make me feel like watching it again.” Horror-Movies.ca

“It’s got a few fun scenes here and there, but it’s overall a mindless bore of a film, and for the life of me I cannot understand why director Roberta Findlay or the screenwriters thought anyone would be interested in this particular non-story.” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“The dialogue seemed to fit for most of the characters: those important to the plot had clear, competent lines while those unimportant to the plot got to fill the screen with irritating, unbearable dialogue. Sadly, the latter group is the one we hear the most from. Halfway through, I was begging for the villains to kill off Alexandra’s friends, relatives, associates and the two cop characters…” Varied Celluloid

“Prime Evil is as boring as you can possibly imagine. The borderline retarded janitor/killer has his moments here and there, there is a bit of senseless nudity thrown in, and Satan himself makes an appearance at one point, providing the only glimmer of entertainment in the film.” Quick Horror Movie Reviews

Choice dialogue:

“Don’t you wanna get poked?”

“Cut the crap, fart breath!”

“You’re being very flippant for a man about to sacrifice his granddaughter.”

“Well, you clergy must have had your hands full with Luther and the Reformation.”

“The Church is supposed to care about people. Now all they care about is power and money. I was a fool to believe in them. A fool.”

Buy Gorehouse Greats Collection on DVD: Amazon.com

Main cast and characters:

• William Beckwith as Father Thomas Seaton – Tromeo and Juliet; Thrilled to Death
• Christine Moore as Alexandra Parkman – Thrilled to Death; Lurkers
• Mavis Harris as Sister Angela – Video Violence 2
• Max Jacobs as George Parkman
• Tim Gail as Bill King
• George Krause as Ben
• Ruth Collins as Cathy – Witch Academy; Hell Roller; Doom Asylum; Lurkers; Blood Sisters
• Amy Brentano as Brett
• Jeanne Marie as Judy
• Gary Warner as Detective Dann Carr
• Iraida Cruz as Mrs. Quinto
• Roseanna Peterson as Alison Deveraux
• Cameron Kell as Frances Parkman
• Nicole Sislian as Tina
• Phil Murphy as Bishop McCabe

IMDb

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‘Like father, like son… like hell’

Bad Blood – aka A Woman Obsessed – is a 1989 American psychological horror film directed by Chuck Vincent (Thrilled to Death; Deranged) from a screenplay by Craig Horrall. It stars Georgina Spelvin, Randy Spears, Linda Blair and Troy Donahue.

A young lawyer (Gregory Patrick aka Randy Spears) discovers that his real mother (Georgina Spelvin aka Ruth Raymond) is actually a wealthy artist and recluse. Unfortunately, his mother is also unhealthily obsessed with her son and so begins to poison his wife Evie (Linda Blair)…

Reviews:

“It’s well-made, extremely twisted, stylishly shot and edited (with good use made of slow-motion and even split screen) […] Most of the actors are able to skillfully navigate their way through some very long takes here. Spelvin, in particular, is great and goes all out in her role, which is played with more than just a hint of scenery-chewing camp.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

” …neither the director nor the cast can involve us in the emotional dynamics of this would-be serious psychological chiller that can’t resist gross exploitation. However, nondiscriminating horror fans will find that the denouement is sick fun raised to spectacularly campy heights.” TV Guide

“Vincent was obviously trying to rip off Brian De Palma, especially in the third act. There’s a split-screen shot that goes absolutely nowhere and we also get a Carrie-type of surprise ending that is way too obvious to be very effective. The finale also goes on way too long…” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

“There are some weird moments here, like two extended monologue sequences where the non-speaking actors look really uncomfortable and unsure what to do with themselves, which may be awkward to watch, but I actually found it to be realistic and possibly inspired. For the most part, it’s a brilliant thriller, that delightfully takes things way farther than expected, and has an incredible and intense performance from Georgina Spelvin as the mother.” Austin Wolf-Sothern, Letterboxd

Main cast and characters:

• Georgina Spelvin – Devil in Miss Jones and sequel
• Randy Spears – Rocki Whore Picture Show: A Hardcore Parody; Sexual Witchcraft; Leena Meets Frankenstein; Critters 2
• Linda Blair – Grotesque; Hell Night; The Exorcist and sequel
• Troy Donahue – Shock ‘Em Dead; Monsters TV series; Blood Nasty; The Chilling; Hard Rock Nightmare; Seizure; Monster on the Campus
• Carolyn Van Bellinghen
• Wanda-Gayle Logan
• Marion Backman
• Haskell Phillips
• Frank Stewart
• Miriam Zucker
• Christina Veronica – They Bite; Girlfriend from Hell
• Harvey Siegel
• Scott Baker
• Veronica Hart – One-Eyed Monster; Parasomnia; Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh; Tattoo Vampire
• Tony Gigante

IMDb

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‘PRAY it doesn’t happen HERE -‘

Panic – original title: Bakterion– is a 1981 Italian/Spanish science fiction horror film directed by Tonino Ricci (Night of the Sharks; Encounters in the Deep; The Shark’s Cave) [as Anthony Richmond] from a story and screenplay by Jaime Comas Gil (The Shark Hunter; Encounters in the Deep) and Víctor Andrés Catena. It stars David Warbeck, Janet Agren and Roberto Ricci.

In Newton, a scientist’s experiment with a deadly bacteria goes awry and leaves him horribly deformed. The monstrous man then runs amok…

Reviews:

” …Panic is certainly entertaining if you’re in a very, very forgiving mood. The English dub (even Warbeck doesn’t get to use his own voice) is one of the crazier of the period, especially when it comes to the more sex-starved characters, and at least it’s a bit of a change of pace from the slasher films and supernatural gore epics around the same year.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“Panic is a film too dumb to explore the politically-charged Dr. Strangelove and Fail-Safe implications of its plot and little is made of a Prime Minister willing to obliterate an entire city to kill one contaminated scientist. Adams doesn’t even appear to be contagious, since none of the people he encounters become infected.” Good Efficient Butchery

“Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds, even with the occasional bloodletting, oozing, or smattering of female nudity, although the “ticking clock” of whether our heroes will be able to corner their quarry before the Army “contains” the town with an air strike of nerve gas is pretty amusing.” Horror 101 with Dr. AC

Choice dialogue:

Sergeant O’Brien: “This is our case. And I want this killer in jail before those London headshrinkers start excusing him! So, get going.”

Sergeant O’Brien: “Look Captain, the army undoubtedly has a radio. You could call your superiors and ask them to lift the roadblock.”

Cast and characters:

• David Warbeck as Captain Kirk [dubbed by Ted Rusoff]
• Janet Agren as Jane Blake
• Roberto Ricci as Professor Adams
• José Lifante as Sergeant O’Brien
• Miguel Herrera as Professor Vince
• Eugenio Benito as Father Braun
• Ovidio Taito
• José María Labernié as Colonel Rutledge
• Ilaria Maria Bianchi
• Fabián Conde as Drunk
• Vittorio Calò
• Franco Ressel as Mr. Milton, President of ChemiCal

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Cinema Arcana

‘Jack the Ripper is at it again in’

Fatal Exposure – aka Mangled Alive – is a 1989 American horror film directed by Peter B. Good (The Force on Thunder Mountain; cinematographer on Faces of Death III and IV) from a screenplay by Christopher Painter. It stars Blake Bahner, Ena Henderson and Dan Schmale.

The make-up effects were provided by Scott Coulter (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight; Demon Wind) and Dan Frye (Brain Damage; Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor).

Jack T. Rippington (Blake Bahner) is the handsome and seemingly charming great grandson of infamous serial killer Jack the Ripper. Jack recently inherited a large plantation mansion in the small town of Prairieville, Alabama, and soon begins to follow in his family’s murderous footsteps…

Reviews:

“It’s reasonably well-made, has plenty of gore and nudity, a ridiculous, though very entertaining, storyline, some effective black comedy and lead actors with some charisma and talent. In the slasher subgenre, regardless of budget, this is also an above par offering.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

” …this movie delivers the grue with none of the old cut-out knives or simple splashes of Kayro. Nope, it’s pure latex loveliness right until the end, with a climax that is one of the most ambitious gore set-pieces I have ever seen in an American ’80s SOV movie…” Thomas T. Sueyres, Video Junkie

“Ok, so you wanna know about the gore. It’s kind of a mixed bag, but with me leaning more towards the good. There’s decapitation and dismemberment scenes that looks beyond cheesy, but when it comes to acid, this movie is tops. There are several really good acid effects that rivals any Italian horror as far as gore.” Wide Weird World of Cult Films

“The story is ridiculous and the acting is beyond horrendous for the most part, but as a whole the movie is actually pretty entertaining in its own weird way.” Todd Martin, HorrorNews.net

Main cast:

• Blake Bahner … Jack T. Rippington – Wizards of the Demon Sword; Caged Fury; Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II; Thrilled to Death
• Ena Henderson … Erica – Molly and the Ghost
• Dan Schmale … Jay
• Julie Austin … Marybeth – Elves
• Renée Cline … Maggie – Future Zone
• Gary Wise … Jeff
• Marc Griggs … Sheriff
• Jah Riley … Masters
• Joy Ovington … Gretchen
• Dianne Teague … Kubrick
• Susan Welch … Candice – A Letter from Death Row
• Tamara Dadd … Girl on Bike
• Heidi Lawaczeck … Receptionist
• Beth Cotton … Girl on Door

Filming locations:

Alabama and Portland, Oregon, USA

IMDb | Image credits: The Bloody Pit of Horror | Video Junkie

‘Lust, betrayal and dismemberment…’

A Night to Dismember is a 1983 American horror film directed by Doris Wishman from a screenplay by Judith J. Kushner, her niece. It stars Samantha Fox, Diane Cummins and Saul Meth.

The film tells the story of one gory day in 1986 in the small town of Woodmire Lake. In the course of this day, all but one member of the Kent and the Todd families are brutally killed and dismembered. The gruesome events are recounted in voice-over by a police detective…

Review:

An auteur in the truest sense of the word (even if we’re talking trash auteur), Doris Wishman was one of the pioneers of the nudie cutie genre. She was responsible for such early sixties pics as Behind the Nudist Curtain, Gentlemen Prefer Nudist Girls and the almost surreal Nude on the Moon (yep, nudists on the moon), before exploring the gritty underbelly of so-called ‘roughies’ (sleazy adult dramas with elements of both sleaze and violence) via Bad Girls Go to Hell, My Brother’s Wife and Another Day, Another Man.

The latter lowbrow black and white sexploiters provided Wishman with the perfect opportunity to show off her penchant for bizarre camera angles, huge close-ups and on-the-hoof location filmmaking. Naked or semi-naked ladies (cue lotsa retro panties, bras and stockings) are used and abused by lustful, greedy men. Combined with a docu-drama approach, disjointed narrative, voice-overs aplenty to make up for actors shot with no sound (to save on the budget), the seedy results are heady stuff!

Wishman really hit the sexploitation heights in the sleazy seventies with legendary spy spoofs Deadly Weapons and Double Agent ’73, both featuring the awesome Chesty Morgan, a permanent feature in schoolyard lore at the time and possessor of unfeasibly enormous mammary glands. The real clincher was that Chesty used her massive boobs to smother to death her enemies!

Already a certain je ne sais quoi laced her work, with the aforementioned non-synchronised sound, editing by chainsaw and foot fetishism amongst other endearing traits adding to a general sense of “what the hell?!”

And as for her 1976 sex-change “documentary” Let Me Die A Woman, once seen, never forgotten… She was even forced to churn out an anonymous porno production, but even that contained other-worldy elements. Shot as Come with Me, My Love, distributors soon changed the title to something more likely to appeal to the raincoat crowd, The Haunted Pussy. Needless to say, Wishman is perhaps the epitome of the long lost era of the grindhouse and New York’s 42nd Street.

Even by her own high standards, A Night to Dismember is a veritable jaw-dropper. Lensed mainly in 1979 yet unreleased ’till 1983, the mind-boggling truth behind the genesis of this gem becomes evident on listening to the highly amusing commentary track provided by Wishman and her director of photography, C. Davis Smith.

Essentially, the film lab lost a large proportion of the negative and the weary director was forced to assemble a new plot around the odds and sods that remained, relying on overblown narration to fill in the huge gaps in the story. She failed, dismally.

What remains is an incomprehensible, choppy, half-film about the nutty Kent family and their bid to send loopy Mary (adult movie actress Samantha Fox in a non-speaking role) over the top. Sounds simple? Not when the voice-over rarely matches the on-screen “action” and any notions of narrative filmmaking are conspicuously absent!

Shoddy attempts to emulate the gloopy gore seen in the likes of Herschell G. Lewis’ movies only adds to the appeal. And who’d have thought that back in 2001 Elite Entertainment would ever have released this supposedly ‘lost’ atrocity on a widescreen anamorphic DVD, with extras!

Buy DVD: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Yet, here lies the whole charm of the piece. If you’re suitably inebriated and in need of a quick celluloid fix, A Night to Dismember certainly hits the spot. Indeed, it’s so short (69 minutes) and enjoyable that you might just be tempted to put yourself through the whole thing again to listen to Wishman (confused yet stoutly confident) and Smith (snide asides a go-go) sling it out on the commentary track. Then again, life is short…

Will Holland, HORRORPEDIA

NB. Wishman’s problems with A Night to Dismember caused her unofficial retirement from the movie industry until fan encouragement brought her back behind cameras for 2001’s Satan Was a Lady. The delightfully titled Dildo Heaven swiftly followed and she was shooting a sexy thriller, Each Time I Kill, when she unfortunately died in Autumn 2002.

Other reviews:

“Those who love the idiosyncratic touches of Wishman will find her fetishes pushed into overdrive here. Furniture, feet, and badly lit close ups often pop into view, while the use of senseless narration to comment on every single banal action produces levels of hilarity that can only be achieved by accident.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“Fans of strange and desperate filmmaking are likely going to get something enjoyable out of this train wreck. Some may even go so far as to spin it to be some surreal, accidental accomplishment. Others beware. There are frequent jumps in the picture and on the soundtrack. The generic, light stock music is incidentally inserted in regardless of the tone of the scene.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

” …if you’re really hunting for bad, bad movies then drop anchor here, it’s truly unbelievable. Everything seems to have gone wrong: the music changes completely in a snap from sort of jazzy gameshow theme to tuneless stringy shrieks but almost never attuned to what’s supposed to be happening on screen; the effects work is horrible and the camera work all over the place.” Hudson Lee, Vegan Voorhees

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Samantha Fox … Vicki Kent – Blue Voodoo; The Devil in Miss Jones Part II; Dracula Exotica
• Diane Cummins … Mary Kent
• Saul Meth … Adam Kent
• Miriam Meth … Blanche Kent
• William Szarka … Billy Kent [billed as Bill Szarka]
• Chris Smith … Sam Kent
• Dee Cummins … Vicki Todd
• Larry Hunter … Larry Todd [billed as Norman Main]
• Mary Lomay … Ann Todd
• Rita Rogers … Aunt Bea Todd
• Nina Stengel … Nina
• Frankie Sabat … Frankie
• Alexandria Cass … Nancy
• William Longo, Jr. … Timmy
• Robert DeRosa … Marty
• Heather Sabat … Sandy
• John Szarka … John

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: The Bloody Pit of Horror

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Aerobi-Cide – aka Aerobicide and Killer Workout – is a 1987 American slasher horror film written and directed by David A. Prior (Night Claws; Zombie Wars; Mutant Species; Sledgehammer). It stars Marcia Karr, David James Campbell, Fritz Matthews, Ted Prior, and Teresa Van der Woude.

A young model named Valerie is burned in a tanning salon. Two years later, her twin sister Rhonda (Marcia Karr) runs a fitness club in Los Angeles.

After one of its members is murdered by an unknown attacker, Detective Morgan (David James Campbell) begins to investigate…

Reviews:

“It’s one that fans will adore, because it’s so cheesy in everything from its performances and characters to its use of eighties stereotypes. And let’s not forget the soundtrack, which is literally awesome. Even the theme that plays over the opening credits is like a disco’d up version of Halloween’s notorious score.” Luisito Joaquin Gonzalez, A Slash Above…

“While its low budget is apparent, the movie offers better production value than many of its straight-to-video contemporaries. Its lasting legacy may be the fact that it’s so unintentionally cheesy, but at least it has something by which to be remembered.” Alex DiVincenzo, Broke Horror Fan

“A gym is a great location for a slasher as it offers up lots of possibilities for kills. The addition of aerobicise allows the film to have plenty of scantily clad women moving around provocatively and somewhat work it into the story. Keyword there being somewhat. Prior was no dummy, he knew exactly who is audience was and what they wanted.” Chris Coffel, Bloody Disgusting

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Marcia Karr … Rhonda Johnson – Maniac Cop; The Night Stalker
• David James Campbell … Det. Lt. Morgan – Night Claws; Little Devils: The Birth; Devil Rider; Speak of the Devil; Evil Altar; Scarecrows
• Fritz Matthews … Jimmy Hallik
• Ted Prior … Chuck Dawson – Night Claws; Mutant Species; Possessed by the Night; Sledgehammer
• Teresa Van der Woude … Jaimy

Release:

Killer Workout was released in the United States on VHS on April 16, 1987, by Academy Home Entertainment. In the United Kingdom and other countries outside the United States, it was issued under its original theatrical title Aerobi-Cide [Aerobicide on publicity material].

On July 23, 2001, the film was released on DVD by Dark Vision. On November 17, 2015, Killer Workout was reissued on DVD and Blu-ray by Slasher // Video in collaboration with Olive Films. 88 Films also released the film in the UK on DVD on 13 June 2016.

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: Death Spa