Category: 1980’s

Directed by Tim Ritter [Other horror films: Twisted Illusions (1985), Truth or Dare?: A Critical Madness (1986), Killing Spree (1987), Wicked Games (1994), Creep (1995), Alien Agenda: Endangered Species (1998), Screaming for Sanity: Truth or Dare 3 (1998), Twisted Illusions 2 (2004), Deadly Dares: Truth or Dare Part IV (2011), Hi-8 (Horror Independent 8) (2013, segment ‘Switchblade Insane’), I Dared You! Truth or Dare Part 5 (2017), Trashsploitation (2018, segment ‘Truth or Dare’), Hi-Death (2018, segment ‘Dealers of Death’), Zombarella’s House of Whorrors (2019, segment ‘Cosmic Desires’), Sharks of the Corn (2021)]

Tim Ritter’s first film (made when he was a teenager), this is one that I’ve literally wanted to see ever since I first heard about it many years back. It went pretty much as expected, for better or for worse.

Firstly, the story was rather lacking. Part of this was because both the video and audio quality of the copy I managed to see were atrocious, but those technical aspects aside, the story doesn’t have a lot to offer, and toward the end, when things take sort of a supernatural turn (which didn’t seem explained all that well, and felt shoehorned in there), I didn’t care for it.

It’s the gore that would probably interest most people, though, and it’s generally pretty good. A pencil in the eye, a throat-slitting, multiple dismemberments. All decent stuff. I just wish that the camera and lighting had been better, so we could have gotten a fuller effect of the mayhem.

Acting throughout was all pretty stale, though the individual who played the detective was hilariously over-active. I don’t know the actor’s name (he’s not listed on IMDb, and the credits of the film only list the actors, not the roles they play), but the way that man delivered his dialogue, in a long, rambling, “I don’t need books anyway, who needs books?” was beautiful to behold. No one else stands out, but for an extraordinarily amateurish film, that’s not really a negative.

And amateurish it was. Even stripping away the problems with the audio and video, the story wasn’t great, and more so, felt moderately hollow at times. Plenty of lower-budget films possess more feeling than much of this one did, but I mostly chalk that up to this being Ritter’s first film. On a slight side-note, I’ve only seen one other Ritter movie, being the somewhat enjoyable Killing Spree from 1987. I certainly wouldn’t judge his output on this one, as it’s his first outing.

Day of the Reaper certainly has a place in the genre, especially among SOV fans. It’s never quite as gory as some of Schiff’s work (such as They Don’t Cut the Grass Anymore), or really as gory as H.G. Lewis’ material, but it still shows promise, despite all it’s shortcomings. Truthfully, though, I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but if you’re a fan of early SOV horror flicks, or a major Ritter fan, I’d check it out if you’re able to find it.

5/10

Directed by Martin Green [Other horror films: N/A]

This is a rather low-budget flick, and it’s drowning in unnecessary melodrama, but it’s not altogether a terrible movie. No doubt, though, is it definitely below average.

Having a main character with alcoholism was interesting, and adding a little something special to her character (while also adding drama that was a bit much). It’s this drama that holds the movie back, though, and it’s not just on the main character. The whole small subplot about the husband’s troubles at work strike me as entirely unnecessary, and though the conclusion to that was sort of funny, it didn’t really add much to the movie.

The main actress, Kory Clark, did decent playing a slightly more complex character than you might expect. Given that this was her only role in anything, I’d say she did a decent job. Aldo Ray was a genial presence, despite his rough background, and made the movie just a bit better by his pretty solid performance.

For a slasher, though, the main problem this movie has is it’s rather noticeable lack of kills, and when there are kills, there’s not much in the way of gore, or, more troubling, suspense. Also, while I sort of liked the route they went with who the killer turned out to be, it felt sort of soulless, as though it was just superficial and lacking something. Still, it tried, I’ll give it that.

Dark Sanity isn’t a terrible film, but there’s almost nothing here, aside from Ray’s presence, that really stands out one way or the other. Definitely on the lower-end of slashers from the early 80’s, I’d recommend that you pass on this, unless something about it seems to tickle your fancy.

5/10

Directed by Andy Anderson [Other horror films: N/A]

I can barely think of an appropriate response to this film.

This conspiracy-driven action/horror/comedy mix is something that was certainly an experience to view. It wasn’t particularly good, and the horror vibe sort of disappeared about halfway through the film, instead feeling like some cheap conspiracy thriller, mixed with comedic quips every other sentence, yet it still maintained a high level of violence.

I’m not entirely sure what this movie was going for. I’ll admit that much of the comedy I found amusing, partially because the two main characters, played by John S. Davies and Lauren Lane, had such a goofy, over-the-top style. Early on, the film was just odd, what with a prankster starting a shoot-out, a man being killed by a phone call, and a prostitute being blown up by a television (talk about sentences you never expect to write).

Which isn’t to say the film wasn’t odd later on – it just followed a slightly more generic route, with a bunch of people attempting to kill the two main characters, almost exclusively with firearms (which is why the film feels much more action than horror past a certain point). This isn’t also to say the film isn’t amusing, because it really can be. The problem is, it’s not consistently so.

The biggest problem, though, is that the plot didn’t seem to know where it wanted to go. If it stuck to a more horror feel, I think that it’d have done more for me. And those Atari/electronic voices annoyed the hell out of me, on a side-note. Interface is a strange movie that might do more for you than it did for me. I’d just recommending watching it, and see how it goes, but don’t expect too much. It’s an 80’s obscurity for a reason.

5.5/10

Directed by Dominick Brascia [Other horror films: Evil Laugh (1986)]

I don’t really know how else to describe this movie but ‘fun.’ It’s not overly cheesy, nor is it particularly gory, but I had a blast watching this flick, which is part-werewolf, part-something else.

A lot of the music in the film is sort of generic hard rock, but whatever, it worked and kept me engaged. The characters, while nothing special, all brought a little something to the film (be it nudity, in the case of Annie Mikan, or just a fun personality, such as Tom Shell). There’s also a lot of fun to be had with just the opening scene (that grandfather had me breaking out laughing twice in the first two minutes), and a dream sequence later in the film was just so bizarre, it’d be hard not to laugh.

Much of the cast was fun too, even if they weren’t particularly good. Susan Grillo was cute, as was Lisa Guggenheim. Annie Mikan did really well as the bitch of the group. Couldn’t stand her, but she did her role as it was meant to be done. Troy Donahue at first is a bit generic, but toward the end, his acting was a blast to behold, in the most ridiculous way. Greg Joujon-Roche was decent as one of the leading characters.

As for the twist at the end, I have to imagine it would turn some people, maybe a lot of people, away. As for me? Threw me for a loop, and I loved it. What helped was Troy Donahue’s utterly over-the-top acting during the scene, and it made that finale something special.

Directed by the same guy who did the slasher Evil Laugh (Dominick Brascia, who really only did these two horror films before moving onto other pastures), a film I recall rather liking quite a bit, Hard Rock Nightmare might not quite end up being what you’re expecting. I had a lot of fun with it, but then again, my taste in movies is somewhat eclectic. I just know that I enjoyed the hell out of this despite the lack of gore. Solid, if a bit low-budget, film, and one I’d definitely watch again in the future.

8.5/10

Directed by Bill Leslie [Other horror films: N/A] & Terry Loftin [Other horror films: N/A]

While certainly a gory movie, everything else was a bit of a hassle to sit through, and ultimately, much is left to be desired after finishing this.

The one thing this early straight-to-video horror gets right is the gore. It’s not always great, and it’s moderately derivative, but at the very least, this movie has it. The body count is pretty high here, too – at least ten to twelve on-screen deaths, which is sort of nice. Unfortunately, that’s sort of all this film can really boast about.

Everything else is quite shoddy. I’m even a fan of SOV horror – I enjoyed Night Ripper, Cannibal Campout, Houseboat Horror, Spine, and a handful of others. This film, though, just wasn’t as enjoyable as any of the ones I listed. It’s a shame, as this movie could have played as a serious rape-revenge film, like I Spit on Your Grave, but instead of taking that route, it goes the ‘serial killer making terrible jokes’ direction, and it came across as rather ridiculous, especially given the killer’s backstory.

I don’t expect great acting, but at least one or two performances that stand out would be nice. Instead, all we got here was Ron Queen, who was amusing only in the fact he always had the same neutral expression on his face. Queen is literally the only one who really stood out in any way, which is amazing, as for a low-budget SOV film, this movie doesn’t really have that small a cast.

I think that this movie could have been better if they had chosen to approach the material differently. Instead of making it a product of the 80’s, if they went more for the feel of the aforementioned I Spit on Your Grave or Toolbox Murders, it’d have been a bit better. For an 80’s film, this movie was just dry, and even when it was trying to add a little spice with the killer’s idiotic comments, it just made it worse. Aside from some decent gore, The Nail Gun Massacre isn’t that worth watching, which is really a shame, as it really had potential.

5/10