1981 – Page 3 – Jiggy's Horror Corner

The Prowler (1981)

Directed by Joseph Zito [Other horror films: Bloodrage (1980), Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)]

The Prowler is one of those early 80’s slasher classics I’ve just seen once before. Truth be told, I only remembered the vaguest of scenes, so it was nice coming into this one as an almost-new viewing. While the story and conclusion are a bit lacking, The Prowler more than makes up for it with it’s atmosphere and fantastic gore effects.

The setting for this one is pretty good also – it’s nothing overly special, just a college campus (of sorts), but I liked how everything happened so close to each other. In one scene, the main actress is walking out of a dance, tons of people and energy, and then just two blocks away, the streets are dark and empty. I’m not sure why, but I just really dug that.

Of course, when anyone talks about this one, they’re going to bring up the gore, and for good reason. I don’t think there was a single death in this movie that disappointed me. The bayonet through the guy’s head (from top of skull, coming out his jaw) was fantastic, as was the double pitchfork impalement at the beginning. Even better, the shower-pitchfork scene, which was fantastically gory, along with providing a bit of welcomed nudity to the film. Let’s not forget the head being blown off with the shotgun, though – in pure Maniac style, that scene was great.

Which makes complete sense, given that the same individual behind the special effects for Maniac, Tom Savini, was behind these also. If you want to see a slasher that’s not afraid of showing some gore, this one is perfect.

I don’t want to give off the impression that the film is without downsides, though. The motive behind the mystery killer are never really explained, leaving the kills without context, and in fact, the identity of the killer is almost pathetically easy to ascertain pretty early on (many of the red herrings were obvious, and we’re pretty much left with a single suspect in mind). Also, while the atmosphere never falters, it did feel a bit sluggish toward the end before the conclusion. And on that note, there’s a scene in the conclusion that just feels overly silly (I’m guessing that, if you’ve seen this, you know which one I’m talking about).

It’s also worth noting that the cast isn’t really amazing either, but for an early 80’s slasher, I pretty much think most of those involved did fine. Vicky Dawson was a pretty fair main character, and Christopher Goutman, while a bit generic, did okay as a co-protagonist. Neither one, by the way, had much a career in movies, which I find a bit interesting. I wish he had appeared more, but Farley Granger was fun while on screen, and I have no idea who Bill Nunnery is, but his short scene is pretty amusing.

It’s the lack of motive that bothers me most about this one, and all other complaints can mostly be swept under the rug. I don’t get why they didn’t throw in a short relevant flashback, or a Dear John letter, or something to indicate why the killer went out of his way to kill again after so long. It was noticeably weak, which is a shame, as otherwise, The Prowler is a solid movie. Even so, the special effects here are damn good, and if I’d recommend it for anything, along with the classic feel, I’d recommend it for that.

8.5/10

Halloween II (1981)

Directed by Rick Rosenthal [Other horror films: The Birds II: Land’s End (1994), Halloween: Resurrection (2002)]

In many ways, this sequel reaches similar heights as it’s predecessor, and though it lacks the classic feel of the original, it’s both a fun and oft-thrilling watch.

Much of the suspense works due to the setting, a rather isolated and understaffed hospital, filled with empty corridors and many deadly weapons (and a therapy tub, used to glorious effect). It’s worth noting that the film doesn’t have a significantly higher amount of gore (aside from a pool of blood that one character slips in), and still manages most of the kills without showing that much. That said, there is a much higher body count here, so there’s still certainly enough to keep us looking for more.

The great setting aside, the fact that Laurie is wounded here also makes the chase sequences just a bit more suspenseful. When in her prime, Laurie could defend herself against Michael, but here, she’s nowhere near her best, and watching her stumble down a deserted hallway to escape Michael, then going into a dingy basement area, those were great scenes, and perhaps my favorites of the movie.

Of course, Jamie Lee Curtis does pretty good here as Laurie, though she doesn’t get nearly as much screen-time as you might expect. Donald Pleasence is fun here too, and gets a few more wild moments only hinted at in the first film. He especially gets in some good action toward the end and the explosive finale. Lance Guest is pretty solid here, though doesn’t have as much to do with how the film goes as first thought. Finally, returning from the first film, Charles Cyphers is nice to see, but quickly gets put out of commission after finding out his daughter, Annie, was a victim of Myers’.

Speaking of the first film, I liked how this film replayed the last few moments of the first, the music not kicking in until after Pleasence talks to a neighbor attracted to the gunshots. A nice, subtle beginning that quickly turns into a chaotic police manhunt, but of course, Michael still evades the search. The one plot twist in the film isn’t necessarily the best thought out (I think we all know what I’m talking about), but for this one film, it works out fine.

Halloween II doesn’t feel nearly as good as the first movie, but given how I think the first movie is one of the best horror movies ever made, that should hardly come as a shock. Still, there’s plenty in this movie to deeply enjoy, and ever since I first saw this many years back, I absolutely loved the hospital chase sequences, and always found them thrilling. The ending too was also pretty epic, and if they had wanted, would have served a fine conclusion to the story. A great movie by any means, this film stands the test of time, and brings a lot to enjoy to the table.

8.5/10

Quella villa accanto al cimitero (1981)

Directed by Lucio Fulci [Other horror films: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971), Non si sevizia un paperino (1972), Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco, ovvero: Dracula in Brianza (1975), Sette note in nero (1977), Zombi 2 (1979), Paura nella città dei morti viventi (1980), Gatto nero (1981), …E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà (1981), Lo squartatore di New York (1982), Manhattan Baby (1982), Murderock – Uccide a passo di danza (1984), Aenigma (1987), Zombi 3 (1988), Il fantasma di Sodoma (1988), Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio (1988), La casa nel tempo (1989), La dolce casa degli orrori (1989), Un gatto nel cervello (1990), Demonia (1990), Hansel e Gretel (1990), Voci dal profondo (1991), Le porte del silenzio (1992)]

As with much of Fulci’s horror output, Quella villa accanto al cimitero (or The House by the Cemetery) lacks some cohesion at times, but comes forth with strong gore, though this doesn’t entirely save it.

At first glance, the story is somewhat simple, but there are elements never really touched upon aside from being referenced once or twice (such as what exactly the deal with the babysitter was, and under what circumstances did the main guy visit the house previously, or the psychic girl subplot), which creates an occasionally incoherent film, perhaps par for the course, as far as Fulci’s concerned.

That said, many don’t come to Fulci’s films for their unparalleled stories, they come for the gore, and this movie certainly has that. Dismembered body parts, a bloody bat attack, multiple stabbings, this movie knew what it was doing insofar as the gore and special effects were concerned.

I watched a dubbed version of the film (which is the same as last time I saw this, if I recall), and the dubbing wasn’t spectacular, but it didn’t really harm the performances. Paolo Marco was still decently strong as the main character, though he wasn’t as involved as I thought he might be. Catriona MacColl was a bit hysterical at times, but it worked for her character. Playing the babysitter with an unexplained connection to the house, Ania Pieroni did fine, but was lacking characterization. Lastly, the boy, played by Giovanni Frezza, was hurt most by the dubbing, and came across as annoying half the time, but I could live with it.

The lack of cohesion here is the biggest problem. Certainly there’s occasionally a strong atmosphere, and of course the gore is pretty top-notch, but when the story’s not amazing, those other factors can only do so much. Related, while much of the score was pretty good, it was rather eclectic at times, and seemed cut oddly, at least in the print I saw.

The House by the Cemetery probably isn’t Lucio Fulci’s best movie (I definitely prefer Don’t Torture a Duckling and Zombi 2 more, and maybe even The Beyond), but it is a good example of the kind of horror this Italian director did for the genre. It’s worth seeing despite the problems present, but it might not be one of his movies that you constantly go back to.

6/10

The Territory (1981)

Directed by Raoul Ruiz [Other horror films: La ville des pirates (1983), La maison Nucingen (2008)]

(Note: this review was written like this movie – it starts off competently, but then falls into a mess of stuff that has no context and makes no sense).

Maybe it’s because I don’t have much interest in philosophy, but I couldn’t stand this movie. It just felt aimless, meandering, and pointlessly ontological.

The story had potential, and it’s that potential that lead me to seek this film out, placing it on my ‘want-to-see’ list. It’s the same mistake I made with the 2007 French flick Eden Log, actually. I might have hated that one more, but this wasn’t a walk in the park, by any means.

There were some decent scenes at the beginning before the characters started acting irrationally and ultimately ceased acting like actual people. The idea of wandering lost in what should be an easy location to leave has appeal, but when the approach they take is one like they did here, it doesn’t do a thing for me, and actively irritated me.

I derived no pleasure from this movie. Not from the end (I guess one of the characters died off-screen, or something, because they don’t pop up again, and also, there seems to be a character at the end who never appeared before who was retroactively considered a main character or something), which was horrible.

I don’t even know if my critique is making sense. The cannibalism aspect was fine at the very beginning, but then it became some religious-like ritual for some reason without explanation. And then other stuff happened. I guess. Then a book was written from the surviving characters, despite the fact that the main survivor was utterly incomprehensible half the time.

This movie is Portuguese, though it’s in English, and takes place in France for some reason.

There was one scene where a guy kept yelling “BARBARA SHOULD I HIT HIM AGAIN BARARA WHAT SHOULD I DO BARBARA HES GETTING UP WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT SHOULD I HIT HIM AGAIN BARBARA HES MOVING WHAT SHOULD I DO” for three, four minutes. Maybe longer. Fun times.

Like suicide, I guess. Purple feathers on blue grass. Long Weekend was bad too, but this was so wurst.

Fun times.

1/10

Murder Obsession (1981)

Directed by Riccardo Freda [Other horror films: I vampiri (1957), Caltiki il mostro immortale (1959), Maciste all’inferno (1962), L’orribile segreto del Dr. Hichcock (1962), Lo spettro (1963), L’iguana dalla lingua di fuoco (1971), Estratto dagli archivi segreti della polizia di una capitale europea (1972)]

For a late entry into the giallo subgenre, Murder Obsession isn’t terrible. It’s just not that great.

When it pops up, the gore is decently solid. A good throat-slitting with a chainsaw was the stand-out scene, but there’s a few others strewn about within the last thirty minutes or so. As always, the multitude of suspects made it a bit more fun, but to be honest, the conclusion was generally pretty meh.

Which is the biggest concern with this movie. Oh, the meandering plot and sluggish pacing didn’t help, nor the fact that the first murder doesn’t take place until an hour has gone by, but the ending isn’t that satisfactory. I do like how we got two different possible chains of events, told by two different characters, but it was moderately obvious which one was the one that really happened. Lastly, one of those dream sequences went on far too long – I don’t think we need a ten-minute dream (complete with one of the fakest-looking spiders in the history of cinema) when three minutes would have sufficed.

Stefano Patrizi made for an interesting lead character, what with his uncertainty over his past actions. His character was actually sort of a dick a lot of the time, but like I said, that makes him a bit more interesting. John Richardson (who has been in a quite a few horror films, such as Black Sunday, Frankenstein ’80, Torso, Eyeball, and Nine Guests for a Crime) had a great screen presence, though his character didn’t end up doing that much for me. Silvia Dionisio does moderately well, but past the halfway point of the film, she doesn’t appear that much. Finally, Anita Strindberg was generic through a lot of the film, but really picked up her performance toward the end.

Directed by Riccardo Freda (who was behind 1963’s Lo spettro, a favorite of mine, along with a few other 70’s horror flicks), Murder Obsession lacked some of the mystery I’d have preferred for a giallo. There was no shortage of suspects, but like I said, it was somewhat obvious where it was going. Not a bad film, but for a giallo, this doesn’t really stand out much.

6/10

Leák (1981)

Directed by H. Tjut Djalil [Other horror films: Batas Impian Ranjang Setan (1986), Ratu buaya putih (1988), Pembalasan Ratu Pantai Selatan (1989), Misteri Janda Kembang (1991), Dangerous Seductress (1992), Skandal Iblis (1992), Gaun Merah (1994)]

Eh, I don’t really know what to say about this one.

There were certainly some decent things in this Indonesian horror film, originally titled Leák (pronounced Le-ak, which is apparently some kind of black magic), but known far better as Mystics in Bali, such as an ominous and threatening atmosphere, some decent special effects, and a plot that’s played pretty seriously (despite how the final product ended up coming out).

But despite some interesting scenes, about thirty, forty minutes in, I was getting bored, and really much of the movie is just a young woman becoming unintentionally aligned with a dark practitioner of an evil magic, and becoming possessed, in a way. Some creepy scenes were present, such as throwing up what seems to be green slime and live mice, along with the initial appearance of the witch-like Leák Master, but it wasn’t enough to keep my interest alive.

I don’t have much experience with Indonesian horror. I do know that much of this film is taken from Balinese mythology and folklore, which is culturally sort of cool. But the movie didn’t really do much of anything for me, and though portions were probably decent for Indonesian films back in the 1980s, some of the effects look rather hokey now. Might be worth a watch if you want to see something a little different, but I wouldn’t expect to love it.

5/10

Delusion (1981)

Directed by Alan Beattie [Other horror films: N/A]

This flick feels so much more a product of the 1970’s than it does the 1980’s, and that, in part, drives the enjoyment that can be derived from the movie.

While sometimes lacking the style of other slasher whodunit’s, Delusion still has a fun story that both maintains mystery and suspense. The kill scenes are a bit weak, I admit, and calling this a slasher is a wee bit of a stretch, but it certainly possesses many of the elements you might expect. As I said, it feels more like a 70’s film, and that’s due to the dryer nature of the content, the whole feel of the film, and the first-person narration.

First-person narration is something I’ve mostly seen from the 1970’s, be it Let’s Scare Jessica to Death or Death Bed: The Bed That Eats. It’s sort of cheesy, of course, but at the same time, I think there’s charm in that approach to storytelling. It helps that I watched a VHS rip that was a bit scratchy and blurry – I could easily believe this to be from a decade earlier.

Patricia Pearcy does pretty good in this one. Though she appeared previously in 1976’s Squirm, she hasn’t really been in that much, which is a shame, as I think she does well in this film, particularly near the conclusion. Leon Charles (who died the shortly after this film came out) did really good as a sort of fatherly figure butler here, and ended up perhaps my favorite character. Luckily, being one of Joseph Cotton’s final movies, it does well for him, and he character got some work in at the end. Lastly, both David Hayward and John Dukakis made favorable impressions also.

Reviewing this film wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the ending. I will fully admit to having been deeply surprised during the conclusion, and I loved the film all the more for it. I didn’t see it coming, and it left me more than a little pleased once the credits started rolling.

This doesn’t seem to be a widely-spoken about film, either under the name Delusion or The House Where Death Lives (which even I will admit is a more eye-catching title). It’s a shame, because while I wouldn’t call this film a classic, and I know some of the cheesy aspects might turn some off, I had a really fun time with this.

8.5/10

Hell Night (1981)

Directed by Tom DeSimone [Other horror films: Sons of Satan (1973), Hellhole (1985)]

Hell Night was a decent movie, but it actually didn’t do nearly as much as I thought it would, especially given the sub-genre and time period.

At an hour and forty minutes, this movie’s a tad longer than many slashers of the 80’s, but more than anything else, things felt drawn out as opposed to expanded upon. The reveal near the end was sort of cool (though expected), but it didn’t really mean much, as there wasn’t all that much backstory given to why exactly the killer went out of his way to kill during this night and not previous initiations.

The 1980’s mentality was fun – I loved the soundtrack and most of the dialogue (while some of the acting was lacking) was pretty amusing. But given the length of the movie, I was expecting a bit more than I got. Loved the atmosphere throughout most of the film, and most of the kills were acceptable (though only a few really stuck out to me), but something was missing.

What that was, I don’t know, but despite all the flaws, I moderately enjoyed it (including Linda Blair’s decently done character); it falls just below average, and there are certainly other slashers I’d go watch again before giving this another shot.

6.5/10

The Howling (1981)

Directed by Joe Dante [Other horror films: Piranha (1978), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983, segment ‘It’s a Good Life’), Gremlins (1984), The ‘Burbs (1989), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), Trapped Ashes (2006, segment ‘Wraparound’), The Hole (2009), Burying the Ex (2014), Nightmare Cinema (2018, segment ‘Mirari’)]

I saw this movie once many years ago, and I didn’t care for it then. Upon rewatching it, my views haven’t really altered all that much.

The Howling has more than a few positive qualities. Plenty of the actors and actresses are either good or fun, the special effects are very well done, there are some tense scenes, and the setting itself (forest retreat) is pretty decent.

Dee Wallace did a very good job, especially near the beginning, of a woman suffering from the aftermath of a violent attack. I didn’t really care for where the story took her, but still, she did a solid job. Patrick Macnee stood out also, as did Belinda Balaski, who, along with being a rather attractive woman, was one of the few characters really trying to figure out what was going on. And need I mention Dick Miller? His appearances are always fun, and this one was no different.

The special effects certainly were top-notch, with good werewolf transformations and severed arms. Really, if there’s one reason to watch this film, it’s probably for what they were able to do as far as the effects went, as even by today’s stands, they’re impressive.

The problem is, though, despite the positives (the Colony, in concept, was cool, for instance), this movie just didn’t jibe well with me. I’m not sure what it is – it has elements I rather like throughout the film, but it just didn’t work for me.

Often hailed as a werewolf classic (which, let’s be honest, isn’t that much an accomplishment), The Howling didn’t do much for me. It had a memorable ending, memorable transformations, memorable actors. But the movie just falls flat, despite all that, and end up well below average.

5.5/10

Dead & Buried (1981)

Directed by Gary Sherman [Other horror films: Death Line (1972), Mysterious Two (1982), Poltergeist III (1988), 39: A Film by Carroll McKane (2006)]

I’ve now seen this film twice, and it has thoroughly been cemented into my favorite horror flicks of the 1980’s.

Dead & Buried is a moody and atmospheric classic, one that I think every horror fan should give a shot. The plot takes you for a ride – you might think you see what’s coming, but you may be in for a surprise. The atmosphere is wonderfully tense and mysterious, and like the main character, Sheriff Dan Gillis (played by James Farentino), you’re wondering what the hell is going on.

Dead & Buried is an innovative movie that is held back only by leaving a few too many unanswered questions at the end, along with some moderately hokey acting by Farentino later on in the flick. But the positives far outweigh the downsides.

James Farentino and Jack Albertson (playing a very memorable coroner/mortician) did amazing throughout the film, and although, like I said, Farentino got a bit iffy toward the end, he still did a damn fine job. Also worth noting: while he didn’t appear much, Robert Englund was also in the flick, playing one of the townsfolk. Always fun to see him, no matter how unsubstantial the role.

The gore level isn’t all that high, but there are amazing special effects throughout (Stan Winston did so well here), and really, just for those alone, it’s worth watching.

It’s hard to overstate how amazing this film is, even with the drawbacks. It may feel like a Twilight Zone episode at times, albeit a violent one, but that just adds to it’s charm. A fine movie in any horror fan’s collection, Dead & Buried has been overlooked for far too long. This movie certainly did it for me, and that ending is not one I will be forgetting anytime soon.

9/10