Directed by Jeff Woolnough [Other horror films: Strange Frequency 2 (2002), The House Next Door (2006)]
Known best as just Lost Souls (if it’s known at all), this television movie didn’t reinvent the wheel, but in it’s low-budget tackling of a somewhat common story, I found the movie quite serviceable.
Now, I saw this once before many years back, and about the only thing I remembered was the conclusion, so I didn’t get to relive the surprise, but even so, I like how the film focuses on the mystery of unsolved murders and throws multiple suspects out at us, many of them feeling like real possibilities. The idea of supernatural forces from beyond the grave helping people solve an old murder isn’t new, but it was done well, and with feeling.
Communicating through an autistic girl was a nice touch, because both parents here (played by John Savage and Barbara Sukowa) got to see their daughter do more than she’s been able to do (such as sing), and though it’s just a cheap television flick, I still liked that this had heart.
On that note, the horror here isn’t nearly what many fans might be looking for. It might even feel more like a supernatural drama at times, but when you throw in mystery and the decently suspenseful conclusion, I don’t see why all that many people would have an issue seeing this as a horror film, light as it might be.
John Savage is a bigger name, though I’ve only seen him in a handful of low-budget horror movies (such as The Attic). He does pretty well here, and I love the lengths he goes through to both figure out the answer to the old crime and protect his family. His wife, played by Barbara Sukowa, didn’t nearly interest me as much, but both children (Nick Deigman and Laura Harling) are solid, with Harling’s performance perhaps being the best. Richard Lintern was pretty good too.
Nightworld: Lost Souls isn’t anything that special, but I find myself enjoying it more than expected. I definitely liked it the first time I saw this, and it’s pretty much had the same impact on me this time around. It’s not stellar as far as made-for-television horror goes, but hell, I liked it. Sue me, brahs.
8/10
This is one of the many films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. Listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this movie.
Directed by Greydon Clark [Other horror films: Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977), Wacko (1982), Uninvited (1987), Dance Macabre (1992)]
I saw this alien flick once before, and I recall having an okay time with it. Watching it again, I don’t know what I was on, but while Without Warning isn’t a movie without potential, I certainly felt that the overall experience was pretty dull, bolstered only partially by some big names.
The only two names that are really worth mentioning are Jack Palance and Martin Landau (who, somewhat amusingly, also co-star a few years later in Alone in the Dark). Of the two, I think I preferred Landau’s character, but both were decently solid. I particularly liked Landau here due to the fact his character dealt with P.T.S.D., which led to some low-key emotional moments, and though he’s one of the primary antagonists, I certainly felt bad for him.
As far as the sluggish pace is concerned, though, Palance and Landau can’t really help. Much of the film just follows two kids (Tarah Nutter and Christopher S. Nelson) are they try to flee from an alien species, which look like frisbees, only with teeth and tendrils.
Actually, before I mock the film for the sleep-inducing plot, I will give them kudos for the special effects. The frisbee aliens sort of look silly, but when they latch onto someone, their tendrils sink into their skin, and a mixture of blood and pus is soon visible to all. It wasn’t over-the-top gruesome, but I did think that it was impressive, especially in a movie that really doesn’t have much else to boast about.
Still, watching two teenagers run from these aliens, and encounter dangers from the townspeople (in the form of Landau), it just wasn’t that engaging. The teens themselves weren’t particularly memorable, and overall, I was just consistently bored until things picked up a bit at the end.
For the life of me, I can’t remember exactly why I enjoyed this the first time around. Without Warning certainly had potential, but the final product (which runs at almost an hour and forty minutes) is just too sluggish and void of interest. Might be worth a look just for the famous faces, but as far as alien/horror hybrids go, despite the decent alien design, this isn’t much up there with the best the genre has to offer.
5.5/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. If interested, check out below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this movie.
Directed by Meir Zarchi [Other horror films: Don’t Mess with My Sister! (1985), I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2019)]
This classic in the rape-and-revenge subgenre of exploitation film, generally known under the far-better title I Spit on Your Grave, is oftentimes a difficult movie to watch. Due to the fact it’s a 70’s film, it has that dead serious, gritty vibe that you would expect, making I Spit on Your Grave an awfully grueling viewing experience at times.
While the rape sequences were a bit much (and probably more disturbing than Last House on the Left from six years earlier), the revenge sequences were a lot of fun (and very well-deserved – if you don’t think those men deserved the painful deaths they got, I’d really question your sense of right-and-wrong), the best being a castration. A strong argument could be made that Richard Pace’s mentally-disabled character should have gotten some mercy, but there you go. Definitely gory when it needs to be, more often than not, I Spit on Your Grave just sticks with a bit of build-up and a quick blow, especially near the end.
Camille Keaton does well as a messed up victim of rape, and there was no point in the film in which I didn’t sympathize with her. The four rapists were all well-played too, and while Richard Pace’s Matthew was somewhat hard to hate, the other three (Eron Tabor, Anthony Nichols, and Gunter Kleeman) were as despicable as you can imagine. The only shame is that their deaths weren’t longer. Worth noting, none of the four male actors have been in any other film, before or after, which I found interesting.
The film can be quite tedious. After the first horrific rape, Keaton’s character is raped twice more, and it’s only after she begins to get her revenge that I really feel comfortable watching the film, as it goes more into a proto-slasher feel. Otherwise, the rape sequences were, understandably, deeply unpleasant, and possessed a very desperate, degrading quality to them.
Personally, though I’ve seen this film twice now, I think that I Spit on Your Grave is a hard movie to love. I certainly find the revenge satisfactory, but that doesn’t happen until about an hour in, and dealing with the rape sequences is a bit much. I still find the last forty minutes enjoyable, but it’s a grind getting through the first hour. Probably a movie worth watching, but while it’s certainly good at times, it’s not one that I’d watch multiple times for enjoyment.
7/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast, and what coverage it was. If interested, check out below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss and laugh inappropriately at this film.
I first saw this one about two years ago at the time of this writing, and I thought it was decent. I think the flaws here are pretty easy to see, but at the same time, Stripped to Kill does possess some of that 80’s charm that makes the experience feel a bit better.
The main problem here, in my opinion, is a lot more time is spent on strippers’ dances then on the kills. What kills we do get are pretty decent, such as a woman being doused in gasoline and lit ablaze, or another one garroted and drug under a truck for some time. But instead of additional interesting kills, we get strippers stripping, which has it’s minor appeal, but gets a bit old, especially mixed with generally generic 80’s pop and rock.
What makes the movie stand out regardless, though, is the somewhat interesting mystery and conclusion. Admittedly, a female cop going undercover as a stripper (which has got to break at least some police codes, I’d think) is an interesting enough plot, but throw in a mysterious killer, a few red herrings (Mr. Pocket was a very decent character, and I really liked how that played out), and a generally fun finale, and you have my interest. I enjoyed the mystery here, and with the decent characters, it did make the film worth watching despite the repetitive strip sequences.
Kay Lenz was fantastic here. She’s not an actress I really know (though she was in the classic horror-comedy House), but I loved her character. Instead of looking down on the strippers, walking in their shoes shows her that they’re just people, and some rather pleasant. She was cute too, and I’d watch her strip sequences anytime. Lenz also had a very solid performance toward the end, a very emotional one, so she certainly brought something to this movie.
Greg Evigan’s (from DeepStar Six) character was another story. His sexist nature (and the way he looked down on the profession of stripping despite enjoying the performances) was difficult at times to deal with, and while I admit he was pretty fun, his character sometimes rubbed me the wrong way. It doesn’t help that, as a police officer, he harassed and was physically violent toward multiple people. A few other performances I liked include Pia Kamakahi and Diana Bellamy (who’s character, while only getting a few appearances, never failed to crack me up).
Stripped to Kill isn’t a great movie. As a slasher, it pretty much fails, but at the same time, I can’t deny I really like the mystery here, and while some stripping scenes got repetitive, I didn’t really mind rewatching this one, and what’s more, I could see myself giving this another viewing in the future.
7/10
This is one of the films that was covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. If you’re interested, listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this film.
Directed by David Robert Mitchell [Other horror film: N/A]
Something of a modern-day classic, It Follows is certainly a memorable movie with plenty of creepy scenes, even if there’s something to be desired insofar as the origin of the ‘it’ is concerned.
There’s not too many performances here that really stand out one way or the other. Most of the main actors and actresses do just fine (such as Lili Sepe, Maika Monroe, and Keir Gilchrist), but didn’t really blow me away. Gilchrist, on a side-note, later starred in 2015’s Dark Summer, a somewhat disappointing film overall, but not altogether terrible. It was Olivia Luccardi’s performance I enjoyed the most, though I kept hoping for a bit more from her character.
Which leads to the crux of my problem with the film, which is that we never learn what exactly the entity that ‘follows’ is. Not only do we not learn what the entity is, but more problematic, none of the characters even come up with any ideas, nor seem to care. Luccardi’s character was a reader, and the first time I saw this, I kept hoping that she’d eventually run into something that matched this creature’s modus operandi, but we got nothing.
If you can get past that, and I by-and-large can, you have a pretty enjoyable and occasionally rather creepy film. Some of the music used worked quite well, creating an uneasy atmosphere, and given that the being here is invisible to most people, there are some decently subtle scares here also, and at times, the film feels pleasantly disorienting.
Overall, It Follows is a solid film, probably an easy top ten movie in 2014, but having seen it twice, it’s not a movie I necessarily love. I enjoy the film quite a bit, and if a sequel deigns to explore the background of the malevolent entity, I’d be all in. As far as this one goes, the film’s good, but I need more information to fully sate me.
7.5/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast, so if you’re at all interested, listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss the film.
This is one I’ve seen once before, and I don’t recall particularly enjoying it the first time around. Seeing Night School again confirmed, at least to me, that it’s certainly no classic of the 1980’s, but at the same time, it does have some pretty decent kills.
Putting the kills aside for the time being, Night School doesn’t strike me as that memorable a movie. The plot’s decent for a slasher flick, and we get some solid suspects and a bit of procedural detective work, but there’s not a lot here that strikes me as inspired.
The main character (Leonard Mann) was fine, as was his partner (Joseph R. Sicari), but I don’t really think many other cast members stood out, save for Drew Snyder and perhaps Rachel Ward. Annette Miller was sort of funny the few times she appeared, but really, as far as the cast goes, there’s not a lot that’s offered.
If anything puts this movie on the map, it’s the kills. The best was probably the locker room attack (which concluded with the killer throwing a severed head into an aquarium), but the diner sequence was pretty good also. When Night School leaned that way, it could be pretty suspenseful, so credit where credit is due.
Unfortunately, I don’t think credit’s due that often. The ending is about what you would expect, and while there are some good things strewn throughout the film, there’s not enough here at all to really think that highly of it overall. Honestly, while it may be worth a single watch, I don’t think Night School is worth too much more.
6/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. If interested, listen as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one below.
Directed by Mark Jones [Other horror films: Leprechaun (1992), Rumpelstiltskin (1995), Scorned (2013)]
So, it’s hard right now for me to resist the urge to write an all caps review of how terrible this movie is, because I want to try and retain some modicum of professionalism. That said, Triloquist is one of the worst horror movies I have ever seen, and if I had a choice to watch this again or kill myself, I’d been grabbing for the rope in a heartbeat.
That might sound like an exaggeration, but I’m not entirely sure that it is.
Directed by Mark Jones, who brought us the decently enjoyable classic Leprechaun, Triloquist is a horrible experience from beginning to end. It starts off reminding me of Seed of Chucky, only, get this, worse (and my seething hatred for Seed of Chucky isn’t something that I thought would have competition).
Narration by the dummy. Narration that’s supposed to be funny. The dummy often talks about how hot Paydin LoPachin’s tits are, because that always gets a laugh. Honestly, pretty much everything in this movie was cringe-worthy, but the dummy’s dialogue (not to mention voice) has to be the worst part of this.
Paydin LoPachin’s performance was terrible. She was trying so hard to be an even more crazy Baby Firefly, but she didn’t display an ounce of Sherri Moon Zombie’s talent. She’s attractive, but as she had zero nude scenes, all that concerned me was her atrocious dialogue, annoying personality, and the fact she’s entirely unlikable.
Also, I love how, for some reason, LoPachin’s character never says ‘ventriloquist’ – it’s always ‘triloquist,’ because… yeah, no reason. A+++++++++ choice, amiright???????
Let’s talk about Rocky Marquette – wait, no, as he barely did anything aside from look mentally challenged, it’s not fair to comment on him one way or the other.
At least we got some good music, amiright?
That’s a joke – the music here was, again, terrible. Everything in this movie was terrible. Everything. Every little thing. Every scene, every line of dialogue (save a single line near the beginning that made me chuckle), and everything else too.
Horror-comedies that are far more focused on the comedy aspect couldn’t interest me less. A movie like Arachnophobia or Scream? That’s a perfectly balanced ratio of horror:comedy. But when a movie gets too focused on the humor, especially the idiotic humor presented here (and other movies have done it too, such as Nightmare Sisters and Seed of Chucky), I lose all interest.
Seed of Chucky was a terrible movie with very few redeeming factors. I gave it a 2/10, and that’s being generous. Triloquist had no redeeming factors. Nothing. This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, period.
0/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. If interested in hearing my outrage, listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one.
Directed by Charles Band [Other horror films: Crash! (1976), Parasite (1982), The Alchemist (1983), Ragewar (1984, segment ‘Heavy Metal’), Pulse Pounders (1988), Crash and Burn (1990), Trancers II (1991), Doctor Mordrid (1992), Dollman vs. Demonic Toys (1993), Head of the Family (199mas6), Hideous! (1997), The Creeps (1997), Blood Dolls (1999), Puppet Master: The Legacy (2003), Dr. Moreau’s House of Pain (2004), Decadent Evil (2005), Doll Graveyard (2005), The Gingerdead Man (2005), Petrified (2006), Evil Bong (2006), Dead Man’s Hand (2007), Decadent Evil II (2007), Dangerous Worry Dolls (2008), Evil Bong 2: King Bong (2009), Skull Heads (2009), Evil Bong 3: The Wrath of Bong (2011), Killer Eye: Halloween Haunt (2011), DevilDolls (2012), The Dead Want Women (2012), Puppet Master X: Axis Rising (2012), Ooga Booga (2013), Unlucky Charms (2013), Gingerdead Man vs. Evil Bong (2013), The Haunted Dollhouse (2013), Trophy Heads (2014), Evil Bong 420 (2015), Evil Bong: High 5 (2016), Ravenwolf Towers: The Feature (2016), Evil Bong 666 (2017), Puppet Master: Axis Termination (2017), Evil Bong 777 (2018), Puppet Master: Blitzkrieg Massacre (2018), Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts (2018), Death Heads: Brain Drain (2018), Vampire Slaughter: Eaten Alive (2018), Bunker of Blood: Chapter 6: Zombie Lust: Night Flesh (2018), Bunker of Blood: Chapter 8: Butcher’s Bake Off: Hell’s Kitchen (2019), Corona Zombies (2020)]
I went into this one with lower expectations, but was pleasantly surprised at first. But then the movie kept going down paths I didn’t much care for, and come the end, I found Meridian a somewhat tedious and difficult film to fully enjoy.
Of course, being a Full Moon flick, Meridian does have some charm to it, and it also boasts some decent performances from both Sherilyn Fenn and Charlie Spradling, not to mention Hilary Mason, and though some of the ideas themselves were interesting, the movie evolves into a messy romantic flick à la Beauty and the Beast, and not a particularly worthwhile version.
The main idea and setting here are both fine. The two girls seeing the traveling magic troupe was solid, and the variety of troupe members was admirable (which led, on a side note, to a scene that reminded me a lot of the 1932 Freaks, in which a dwarf is walking down a table and pouring wine in peoples’ cups). It’s true that dinner sequence, followed by a drug-induced rape scene, held a certain engagement to it, but then the movie spirals into unenjoyable territory.
What’s the main issue, then?
After Fenn’s character is raped, she falls in love with the individual who raped her. That alone pissed me off, if truth be told. Drugging women then raping them, and then having one of the women in question subsequently fall for one of the guys involved is beyond the pale, and past that point, I couldn’t bring myself to care for Fenn’s character, nor Malcolm Jamieson’s (he played a pair of twins, Lawrence and Oliver). And once this happened, it only left one central character to root for, being Spradling’s, but funnily, past this point, she only appears sporadically, and is of little importance to the rest of the story.
I’ll admit that both Sherilyn Fenn and Charlie Spradling were pretty attractive, which is definitely true during their nude sequences (Spradling being my preferred of the two). I don’t know Fenn from anything, but Spradling was in both the disappointing Mirror Mirror and the promising Puppet Master II. I liked her character here, quite a lot more than I liked Fenn’s, but like I said, past a certain point, she doesn’t really add much, aside from occasionally being seen working on uncovering a supposedly plot-important painting. Hilary Mason was fun, and there’s a somewhat cool twist involving her character, but much like Spradling, she doesn’t do that much.
Malcolm Jamieson was a fine actor here, but I didn’t care for either of the characters he played (and their on-screen conversations were just melodramatic to the extreme), and ultimately, while he probably did a perfectly fine job, I just didn’t care much for him, much of which can be put on the route that Meridian went.
I knew next to nothing about this movie before watching it, and that’s good, because I already went in with somewhat low expectations, so if I knew where this one went, it would have been even harder to get through this one. Meridian is somewhat interesting, and it definitely could have been a good film (another Full Moon feature, Subspecies, came out the following year, and is pretty good), but this one just doesn’t have what I’d hope for.
5.5/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. If interested, listen to Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss it below.
Directed by Tommy Wirkola [Other horror films: Kurt Josef Wagle og legenden om Fjordheksa (2010), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), Død snø 2 (2014), I onde dager (2021)]
From Norway, we are introduced to Død snø, commonly known as Dead Snow, and it’s a decently enjoyable time, though not amazingly so.
Zombie movies have never been a favorite subgenre of mine, but this does pretty well. The humor isn’t generally too over-the-top (though certainly, toward the end, things get just a bit more ridiculous), and there are some pretty fun scenes here, from the memorable opening to plenty of great fight sequences.
The gore is definitely done well here too, and it’s hard to say any one thing stands out when there’s so much on-screen, but I did like one of the character’s getting their face ripped apart, and another character got his arms and legs torn off, which doesn’t sound particularly pleasant. Throughout the film, there’s solid gore, and I think most people going into Dead Snow for the violence will be happy.
It’s hard to say that any one actor stands out here. Vegar Hoel and Stig Frode Henriksen work well together in the end, and seeing the two of them kick zombie ass was, as the kids nowadays say, hella beast. I do like Hoel’s personality here, so the ending hit somewhat hard. Lasse Valdal had a somewhat fun hippie vibe, and I wish he appeared more, though he did get some solid licks in. Charlotte Frogner was especially good, and her conclusion is probably the most tragic of the lot.
Aside from the gore effects, the Nazi zombies look pretty spectacular too, and their origin (which mixes in some history for us) is fun. This was a small thing, but I did like that hammer and sickle reference – brought a smile to my face.
Off the top of my head, I can’t say that I’ve seen too many Norwegian movies. Ignoring this one, I think I’ve only seen two others, being Trollhunter (Trolljegeren) and Lake of the Dead (De dødes tjern, from 1958), and this is probably the best of the few I’ve seen. I have heard, and it’s backed up by the IMDb ratings, that the sequel to this is better, which is good, because as enjoyable as this can sometimes be, it’s not amazing.
When I first saw Dead Snow, I believe I enjoyed it more, but it’s still a fun film. I wouldn’t really go out of my way to watch this that often, but for a foreign slice of zombie cinema, I think it’s decent and probably worth watching at least once, and it ends up just around average.
7/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. Listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one.
Directed by Brett Leonard [Other horror films: The Lawnmower Man (1992), Hideaway (1995), Man-Thing (2005), Feed (2005)]
The Dead Pit is an interesting movie, and I don’t think it’s spoken about near as much as it should be. Far be it for me to call it a classic, I will say that, though I’ve only seen it twice now, it’s an extremely fun and somewhat unique experience from the late 1980’s, and by-and-large, I love it.
Star Cheryl Lawson was never really in much, and her only other venture into the horror genre was The Vineyard (1989), but she did reasonably well here, and she got topless once, so who would complain? Seriously, I thought her performance here was good, and she worked well with Stephen Gregory Foster (who himself is a bit of a nobody, but his character here was by far the best). Jeremy Slate was solid in his role, and while he didn’t do much, I liked Danny Gochnauer’s look in the movie.
There’s a lot of atmosphere here, and the opening sequence, a nine-minute origin story to the titular dead pit, was fantastic, and really brought the intrigue into the movie quick. After we finally get the title (in a really hideous text, making it one of the more questionable things in the movie), we’re introduced to a creepy old psychiatric hospital, a seemingly demonic, insane doctor, and a pit of bodies hidden in the basement of one of the old buildings. Talk about a great set-up.
There’s only one place where the movie starts feeling a bit drowsy, and that’s when it turns from an almost slasher/demon type-story into a typical zombie movie. It doesn’t finish off that way, and the ending itself is pretty solid (along with an expected, yet still cool, flashback reveal), but still, a generic zombie massacre, even if it comes with okay gore, didn’t really gel with me, though it makes complete sense in the context of the story.
Another thing I liked here, and that was the color scheme. There are times when green and red lights are used to good effect, and while it’s not nearly as artsy as something Argento might do, it still brought a little flare to the film.
I don’t hear The Dead Pit brought up that often, which I think is a shame, because while a few parts might be hokey (the glowing eyes, for instance), it has a lot going for it, and I genuinely think it’s a solid movie, and one of the better flicks from the late 1980’s.
8.5/10
This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast, so if interested, listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one.
Jiggy's Horror Corner 