Tag: USA

Directed by Greydon Clark [Other horror films: Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977), Without Warning (1980), Wacko (1982), Dance Macabre (1992)]

So I’ll give the poster credit for being decent, but boy, this movie definitely has some issues. That doesn’t make Uninvited any less entertaining, but I suspect that this film, while somewhat fun once around, might suffer deeply with revisits.

Even seeing it once doesn’t lead to the best time, but the dialogue and acting is so awful, it’s almost good. The cat itself is fine, but the ill-defined creature that exists within the cat that does most of the killings doesn’t look particularly impressive whatsoever.

I do personally appreciate that this film takes place mostly on a yacht (and a few years before Jason Takes a Long Boat Ride), because more enclosed spaces theoretically should increase the tension. Of course, it never really did, but being lost out at sea without a working engine did hold with it a certain despair.

Alex Cord was appropriately campy here, and his character, of course, quite a dick. He did have a slimy charm at times, but by the end, he got somewhat hard to appreciate. Clu Gulager (The Return of the Living Dead and Freddy’s Revenge) was sort of nice to see, but he didn’t have a heck of a lot of screen-time. Better was George Kennedy (Just Before Dawn and Death Ship), who was Cord’s serious-minded right-hand man.

Shari Shattuck and Clare Carey never really caught on with me (they were cute, sure, but they weren’t winning any IQ tests). Likewise, neither Beau Dremann nor Rob Estes (Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge) blew me away, but I did really like both Eric Larson (Demon Wind) and Toni Hudson. Hudson was maybe a bit more generic, but Larson’s character was pretty interesting, and one of the only ones on board to really root for.

Toward the end, once the surviving characters get into a lifeboat, the cat-creature-thing attacks them twice, with this ridiculous music playing. The sequence was a good example of what to expect from this movie. It’s not overtly silly (though like I said, some of the performances are more than a little camp), but it almost reaches into the realm of comedy with as bad as some of these scenes are.

When it’s all said and done, Uninvited isn’t anywhere near a great movie, but it can be entertaining, and if that’s your main concern, I think you could certainly do a lot worse than this, as bad as this can get.

5.5/10

This is one of the films covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. If you want to hear Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this one, then look no further.

Directed by Michael Wadleigh [Other horror films: N/A]

This is a movie that I’ve been aware about for pretty much as long as I can remember. I recall, the few times this film has been brought up, being warned against calling this a werewolf film (which, given the title, is certainly a reasonable assumption), but aside from that, I went into this knowing very little.

Despite the almost two hour run-time, I feel like I’m leaving much the same way.

I’m not saying that Wolfen is a bad movie, but I will admit that I left quite underwhelmed, especially given, again, that the film was almost two hours. Now, I’ve not read the novel this film was based on (written by Whitley Strieber), but the story here, while starting out interesting, pretty quickly becomes more of a grind than anything else.

It was nice to see a younger Edward James Olmos, who I know mostly from his roles in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and The West Wing, but I didn’t really get his character, and despite the explanation given, I also didn’t really get the Wolfen. Diane Venora played an okay character, but I have a hard time believing she’d be attracted to Albert Finney’s character (Finney, on a side-note, is an actor I know only from Big Fish, so it’s interesting to see him in a role like this). Finney himself gave a fine performance, but I just couldn’t get into the story, and that’s the main issue.

The setting for some of these scenes were top-notch, though. When Finney and Venora first go to that really horrible, decimated portion of New York City, it brings to mind vibes of Cabrini Green from Candyman (only this was more desolate and looked a hell of a lot worse). I lived in Gary, Indiana a bit as a child, but I’ve never seen anything as sad as that. Also, that bridge scene with Finney and Olmos was fantastic, and though there were no Wolfen in sight, I thought it was one of the tensest moments of the movie.

Alas, it all comes back to the story, which I just didn’t care for, and despite some quality scenes (such as the undiscussed yet still enjoyable sequence in which Finney and Gregory Hines are looking for the Wolfen in the ruins of derelict buildings), I just don’t think this movie was really worth the time. Perhaps if I read the novel and then came back to try the film out again, I’d get more from it, but as it stands, I can’t say Wolfen did much for me.

5.5/10

Directed by Fred Dekker [Other horror films: The Monster Squad (1987)]

This is a solid piece of campy fun, and while Night of the Creeps is a rather tongue-in-cheek film, it’s not too much as to be distracting, and ends up an all-around entertaining movie.

Honestly, there’s not that much to the story, and ignoring the stylistic black-and-white flashback introduction, the movie takes place over the course of just a few days. That doesn’t make the film weak, by any means, but it certainly doesn’t have that epic feel you might expect (which is probably to it’s benefit).

If there’s one place where I think the movie maybe went a bit overboard, it’s with the constant references to famous horror-related directors and actors, such as Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, Steve Miner, Sam Raimi, and David Cronenberg, among others. We got it after the first few names popped up. On the other hand, Atkins’ saying “Thrill me” never got old, nor was I unhappy to see Dick Miller for a few moments.

Jason Lively wasn’t the best here – I just didn’t really care for the look of him. I think he was a fine companion piece with Jill Whitlow, though, and his friendship with Steve Marshall (who, in himself, was a sort of unique character, what with the disability) was sort of nice to see.

Let’s be honest, though. The true star here is Dick Miller, who’s been in tons of horror films, from Chopping Mall to Gremlins, The Little Shop of Horrors to The Howling, Demon Knight – wait, no. Upon further examination, I think Tom Atkins is the true star, though as always, it’s fantastic to see Dick Miller pop up, even though it’s for only a single scene.

Tom Atkins (The Fog, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Maniac Cop) was great here. You couldn’t help but feel for him upon learning about his full backstory, and that scene in which he decides to help out Spanky as opposed to killing himself was oddly touching, as was the conclusion. Atkins was great here, and I thought he brought a lot to this film, especially since virtually no one else here aside from Miller had experience with horror.

The special effects are all pretty good aside from that pile of slugs at the end, which looked somewhat janky (and to be fair, that dog puppet didn’t look the best either). Slugs are admittedly probably hard to mess up, but they looked good here, and the zombie designs were all admirable (if a bit uninspired, but that wasn’t the focus, so I can’t complain).

With quite a few amusing quotes throughout (including the one on the poster about the ‘good news/bad news’) and a good sense of what this movie was going for, Night of the Creeps is a good film that’s well-worth it’s cult classic status. It doesn’t blow me away, but it’s always a fun watch.

7.5/10

Directed by Jem Garrard [Other horror films: N/A]

Back in 2012, Syfy had an original movie called Haunted High (which was later retitled Ghostquake, because that’s so much better), and it was terrible. I mean, in some ways, it was okay, but the point is, it wasn’t a great time. So when I marked this to record to my DVR, given this is also a Syfy original, I was expecting something much in the same vein.

However, surprisingly, I had a really good time with this.

I didn’t know that it’d be a horror-comedy when I started watching this, and if I had, I’d have probably gone in with even lower expectations, but the humor here was actually pretty good (and in fact, the “rabid Snuffleupagus” line had me cracking up so much, I had to pause the movie), and I found myself laughing plenty of times. The freeze-frames were probably used once too often, but for the most part, this was a movie that knew what it was doing, and I think it showed in the script (“I don’t need your help. I have God to protect me,” followed up by, “Oh, that’s a really bad choice,” was an exchange that caused more laughter).

What really helps is that the main character, played by Kacey Rohl, is one of those annoying, overachieving types who was in every high school organization possible, and she’s in charge of the ten-year high school reunion. Rohl’s character easily could have been unlikable (and she had her moments), but it turns out that she didn’t go to college – she stayed in her dying town (and I do mean dying – the town doesn’t even have a police station) to care for her sick mother, and all she has to really look back on was her success in high school while everyone else is succeeding around her, such as her old rival, played by Humberly González, who has been around the world.

Really, this is a movie with more feeling than you’d expect. Make no mistake, most of it’s a silly monster movie with a giant warthog goring people, if it’s not eating people, that is, but there’s still some emotion, such as the tender moments between Asha Bromfield and Varun Saranga (Neverknock), or the scene in which everyone’s favorite teacher, played by Linda Goranson, comes to the reunion in a wheelchair after suffering a stroke. There are nice moments here, which is good to see, especially as I have absolutely no plans to attend my ten-year reunion. Though if a killer warthog were on the loose, I might reconsider.

Kacey Rohl is a name I don’t know, but she just did fantastic. I can’t really fault her character for being petty to high school rivals, because that’s really all she has – for ten years, she’s been in a dying town, dreaming of planning the perfect reunion, and this happens. I’ll admit I never loved González’s character, but she did grow on me. Both Bromfield and Saranga were good (especially Saranga), and I wish they had a happier ending then what they did. Jonathan Langdon mostly fell flat for me, but he did have that hilarious Snuffleupagus line, so points for that.

Killer High isn’t a particularly gory movie (though the aftermath of the main slaughter was pretty nice), nor did it boast the best effects (the warthog was pretty simple, but it had it’s charm to it), but it was a surprisingly fun ride, with occasionally moving moments and an interesting story to it’s killer warthog. It was a fun movie, and definitely one I’d give another go. It over-uses a few elements, and the finale isn’t quite that strong, but it’s a surprisingly strong film.

7.5/10

Directed by Joseph Zito [Other horror films: Bloodrage (1980), The Prowler (1981)]

Long-considered one of the best of the series by many, The Final Chapter has the elements you’d come to expect from a Friday the 13th movie, and it puts them together well.

With quality special effects (certainly not something new for the series), some memorable characters (just look at Dead Fuck’s – I mean, Crispin Glover’s – fantastic dance moves), and just an all-around solid story (not that it’s hard to mess up script for Friday the 13th), I think that this one is remembered fondly for a reason.

I love the beginning to this one, a compilation of scenes from the previous three films, and the film picks up immediately following the conclusion of the third film, which is pretty fun to see (we don’t get much of Jason at the hospital, but what we did get was pleasantly reminiscent of Halloween II). Given that the third film and this one take place over the course of just a couple of days really brings forth the slaughter.

Some of the characters weren’t that memorable (Clyde Hayes, Judie Aronson, and Peter Barton being the best examples), but then we get gems such as the cute Carey More and Camilla More, the funky fun Crispin Glover (of Back to the Future fame), the unlucky Lawrence Monoson, the innocent-yet-fun Barbara Howard, and all-around quality Kimberly Beck. I didn’t care much for Erich Anderson’s character, but Joan Freeman was good, and Corey Feldman (Gremlins) really gave a great performance as a younger actor.

Plus, Crispin Glover gave us a great dance.

Either the corkscrew or shower kill is my favorite, but there are plenty of decent kills throughout the movie. I also enjoyed the rain coming back during the finale, as rain always felt like a good way for these movies to end. Tommy Jarvis too was an interesting character to challenge Jason, and I enjoyed his decently intellectual approach, as it reminded me of Ginny (Amy Steel) from Part 2.

Both this movie and Part 2 are pretty close in quality, truth be told. I don’t think either one is significantly better or worse in any real way, which is a good indicator that these are the two strongest films this series has to offer.

Definitely The Final Chapter has been a favorite of mine for years, and it will continue to be.

8.5/10

Directed by Tod Browning [Other horror films: The Unknown (1927), London After Midnight (1927), Freaks (1932), Mark of the Vampire (1935), The Devil-Doll (1936)] & Karl Freund [Other horror films: The Mummy (1932), Mad Love (1935)]

So this is one of those movies that I grew up with. My parents owned this on VHS, and I saw it multiple times as a child. Watching it nowadays, it doesn’t really stand out as being an absolute classic as far as the story goes, but I can’t get past just how much I enjoy Bela Lugosi in his role.

Obviously, whether you think the film is overrated or not (and in recent years, it seems that people are veering that way – the review of this film in my copy of Horror!: 333 Films to Scare You to Death is absolutely scathing), the opening is pure greatness. A scared village, an eager young man ignoring warnings being fired at him. That carriage ride. That bat. That music they make. That Dracula.

The opening is just fantastic. As Dracula, Bela Lugosi really gave a fantastic performance which, while certainly corny in some aspects, leads to some great lines (among them, “Listen to them – children of the night. What music they make” and the simpler yet still effective “Come here,” with that fun hand configuration). Nowadays I find Frankenstein a better film, but Lugosi is charming and entertaining in ways that no one in Frankenstein can compete with.

Playing Van Helsing, Edward Van Sloan (who also had roles in both Frankenstein and The Mummy) was pretty good, and a solid antagonist for Dracula. Loved his mirror trick (and it was unnecessary too, as by that moment, Dracula didn’t know that Helsing knew, so Helsing lost out on surprising him), and how Dracula just slapped it out of his hands. Sloan was confident throughout and a pleasure to watch.

Otherwise, the best performance goes to Dwight Frye (Frankenstein, The Vampire Bat, and Bride of Frankenstein), who played a crazy guy with endless mirth. He also is rather quotable (though in what situations, I shudder to think), and gives an all-around fun performance. The other central performances, such as David Manners (The Mummy, The Black Cat, and Mystery of Edwin Drood), Herbert Bunston, and Helen Chandler (who had a somewhat weak character, and a pretty sad life post-Dracula) were all reasonable, but without Lugosi here, I doubt any of them would be remembered.

With quality settings (such as the final basement with the coffins spread around, or the initial castle in Hungary), quality music (I’m a fan of Philip Glass’ score), and some really memorable scenes, Dracula is a good late-night movie. It’s not amazing, it’s really not. It is good entertainment, though, and I adore it for that.

7.5/10

Directed by Robert Resnikoff [Other horror films: N/A]

I knew next-to-nothing about this film before going in, so much so that, upon learning that Lou Diamond Phillips was starring, I was pleased that I’d have something to look forward to (I don’t even particularly know Phillips from much, but a familiar face is a familiar face). It’s good that it did, because while The First Power started out reasonably strong, it sort of fizzled out halfway through.

The film does have it’s moments. For instance, the opening, when the Pentagram Killer (Jeff Kober) is attacking a female police officer, or that scene when a guy gets trampled to death by a horse, or even those after-effects of that one kill, with the body hanging in the sky. The First Power isn’t a movie without promise – I just think the promise failed to fully pan out.

Story-wise, it was interesting enough. Having a psychic help an atheistic officer feels a little bit stereotypical, but Phillips worked well with Tracy Griffith, so I don’t think it came out too poorly. Where the film starts to lose me, though, is when the nun (Elizabeth Arlen) joins in on the fun, especially because I don’t think Arlen was given much of a character to work with.

Lou Diamond Phillips (who I mainly know from the CBS show Numb3rs, of all places, where he was a character that popped up here and there) was decent in his role, and I don’t usually see him looking this young. Tracy Griffith was good – she had a serious, yet occasionally playful personality, and I thought her performance was actually better than I expected.

Jeff Kober was okay as the Pentagram Killer. I didn’t think he was great – I would have preferred a more serious Satanist as opposed to a killer concerned purely with screwing with someone, but to each their own. I enjoyed Mykelti Williamson, and sort of wish he appeared a bit more. Like I said before, Elizabeth Arlen’s character didn’t cut it for me, but as usual, that’s more on the script than on the actress.

I think the film has a bit of a TV feel to it. That’s not necessarily a negative, of course – there are plenty of fantastic made-for-television horror films (such as The Norliss Tapes from 1973), but for a movie like this, I think it can be a bit of a problem. It’s not as though there were any big special effect screw-ups or anything, but the vibe didn’t strike me as wholly worth theatrical release.

The First Power was a better movie than expected (even though I didn’t know much about the movie, my expectations for 90’s horror isn’t generally that high), and it certainly has it’s place (and it’s fans, as the film, at the time of this writing, sports a 5.7/10 on IMDb), but I think that it started strong and ended weak, at least with this first-time viewing.

5.5/10

The First Power is one of the films we’ve covered on Fight Evil’s podcast. Listen below as Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this film, if it tickles your fancy.