The Hunt: Day 10

No particularly notable tape stops today. But VHS Collecting Legend, Dan Kinem and I decided to stop and hang out in a cave for a bit.

After experiencing what life is like a mile beneath the earths surface, we proceeded to the first hip hop show I've ever attended. Kevin Gates.

And B.O.B

Not a fan of either artist but hip hop shows appear to be every bit as fun as I thought they'd be. I would love to go see a rapper I actually like in the near future.

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 9

We've been working our way up to a particular store for this entire trip thus far. A store with a supposed 50,000 tapes. The anticipation has been killing me. What hidden treasures could possibly be hidden with a store with such a massive selection?

I walk into the store to find tapes everywhere. Good tapes. Rare tapes. There was only one issue. THEY WERE ALL CUT!! Let's take a moment to talk about the evil that is the VHS cut box. Why do these exist? Who ever thought it was a great idea to invest into these tapes and completely ruin some of these beautiful covers? I've seen so many stores keep boxes in tact that it makes no logical sense to me that some stores saw it necessary to mutilate these cases. The worst is cut Big Boxes. Holy fucking Christ! It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about cut big boxes!

Some of the tapes at this particular store were originally big clam shell releases that for WHATEVER reason were cut down to size....AND THEN PUT INTO A BIG CLAM AGAIN!!! Explain that to me. I dare anyone to find the logic in that. I've seen some stupid things done to tapes but this has to be the peak.

Anyway, we were able to find several slipcase titles at the store that weren't cut and a couple of uncut clams. Among these was one of my wants, The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Another notable pickup being Death Spa (of course it was cut, but I still had to get it.) There were several tapes I could have picked up, but at $5 a piece I had to stop myself at 14.

The hunt is almost over. This was to be our biggest stop and I have mixed feelings about it. Regardless, good tapes and based on titles alone it was an incredible library. 

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 8

Another day that wasn't very good for tapes. But there are a couple of stops that were worth noting. The first being Dirty Dave's Flea Market. An absolute shithole of a flea market in the middle of nowhere. I found a moldy copy of Rad inside, which is a decently rare tape. I can clean the mold off at home. That wasn't what I'll remember about good ol' Dirty Dave's though. This market was filled with a ton of custom merchandise! Dirty Dave's tee shirts (For only $3 a piece), condoms, gauges, lighters, and who knows what the fuck else! 

Nearing the checkout counter at DD's, you'll come across a casket decorated with a machete! The casket reads "shoplifters end up here!" The machete read "This is for shoplifters" or something to that effect. Incredible level of redneckiness in full effect!

The next stop was a random ice cream, restaurant, cider store, wax museum place in none other than Chattahoochee National Forest. Great ice cream, great cider, weird wax figures everywhere. Nice!

Did I forget to mention this guy outside? 

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 7

Great day of hunting today! We started the day off by hitting an awesome video store in the middle of nowhere. Part discount grocery store, we found some cool titles and some big boxes!

This was supposed to be a picture of the shelves. I didn't even realize that it looks like it was taken by a chimpanzee with Tourette's syndrome. None of that matters though. THE QUEST IS COMPLETE!! This is the store where I finally found the elusive (but extremely common) treasure, House Party!!!! AFTER YEARS OF BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS, AND DIGGING I'VE FINALLY  COMPLETED MY HOUSE PARTY SERIES!!

We made a few other stops and got a tape here and there before finally driving an hour and a half out of the way to get here. 

Some great stuff here as well. I came across a copy of the kinda rare Truth or Dare. I also completed my Deathstalker series as well. Nice stop, but at $2.50 a tape, money adds up quickly and I had to tap out at 14 tapes. 

Finished the day off by eating at a delicious pizza/Italian restaurant and then trashing out hotel room. 

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 6

Nothing happened.

The Hunt: Day 5

Started the day off with a bang! We hit up a dirty ass video store with thousands of tapes all over the place. I picked up 40 some tapes that I'm pretty stoked about at least than 50 cents a piece. 

I didn't find anything on my wishlist, but still a lot of awesome titles.

The rest of the day was a bust for tapes. We did, however succeed  as far as food is concerned. My first experience at Sonny's BBQ was flawless. And who coul forget Hip Hop Chicken?

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

House Party

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 4

Another day, more dissapointing stops. There really isn't much to talk about from a tape perspective for day 4. I picked up a few tapes from a closing Video Warehouse. Nothing to write home about.

The biggest highlight was probably stopping at Stinson's "World Famous" Bar-B-Que.

Ever heard of it? Yeah, it's not really world famous. Above average Bar-b-que, I'm sure I'll eat better on this hunt.

Checked into a hotel room that claimed to have wifi on the phone. We arrive to learn that not only is there no wifi, but we had just payed for one of the nastiest, cockroach infested rooms we had ever been in. I got a refund and we moved on to the Super 8, which for $10 more, was easily the best room of the trip thus far. We even got free breakfast. Solid deal. Finished the night up right by watching the James Cameron/Schwarzenegger classic, "True Lies". Life is good.

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

House Party

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 3

The Hotel we stayed at was conveniently minutes away from our next haul. An old man who had bought out a video store. Apparently he had over 5,000 tapes? He flip flopped several times on the phone before our meeting. At first, he had owned a store since 1979 and had yet to sell off any of his stock. By the time we had arrived, he he had bought out a store and had already sold 400 tapes to another collector. We suspect that we lost out on several rare titles because of this.

Nevertheless, I found several tapes that I wanted. The highlight being a copy of House Party 2! FINALLY! I GOT YOU! YOU ELUSIVE COMMON BASTARD!! I picked up around 30 tapes at around $2 a piece. I forgot to take pictures of my haul, but I remember completing my Critters series with 3 and 4, getting two more Jackie Chan big boxes, some horror titles I have never heard of (sick covers only), and a plethora of Ninja titles.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We stopped at an odd second hand junk store in the middle of nowhere. There were nothing but Christian tapes but look at this place! 

I have no idea what was really going on here, but it was pretty cool. I picked up a couple more ninja films at a video store/skate shop/thrift store just down the road. 

Besides those stops, the rest of the stores were either busts or closed. I had my first Hooters experience ever though. The waitresses didn't live up to the hype but I enjoyed my Buffalo chicken. Hooters should really step up their game on their hottest sauce. I got it on my sandwich and was relatively unphased. The hunt continues! I don't think anything major is going down tomorrow, but wish me luck. 

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

House Party

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown

Samurai Cop

Passed this in Myrtle Beach. How sick is that?

The Hunt: Day 2

Not too much to report for day 2. Most of the day was driving from destination to destination with no results at all. The lone stop that held any sort of promise was quickly dispelled by the owner of the store. 

After about a half day of driving we stopped at a Video Store that was going out of business. Unfortunately, most of their stock was brutally mutilated into cut boxes. There were still a few films I would have grabbed, but the owner was not willing to sell anything until Wednesday. When asked about pricing I heard "We're going to start them off at $15 a piece on Wednesday. I know we have some valuable tapes here." NOTHING worth that much was present and almost everything was cut!!!

The biggest heartbreak happened as we were about to leave. I spotted House Party 1 and 2. Neither were even cut! This may sound petty to most collectors since these tapes seem to be common to everyone else. These tapes seem to elude me no matter where I go! It was a bitter sweet moment to finally spot them in person yet not be able to purchase them. Good luck selling them for $15 lady. Ugh.

The rest of the day was closed down stores and empty porn shops. We power onward! 

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

House Party

House Party 2

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown 

Samurai Cop

The Hunt: Day 1

The hunt has begun! After a long overnight shift at work, I met up with my comrades and we hit the road immediately. Nothing really too exciting to report for day 1. We had a 9 hour drive to Oxford, North Carolina for a video store going out of business. 

This was my first time raiding a video store. There were some decent titles, but the owner wanted to charge a bit much for my liking. 

A couple of big boxes and some great looking Ninja titles are the highlight of this score. I was also stoked to find The Carpenter. I found a mold covered copy of it in an abandoned flea market and have been searching for a functional copy ever since. I also get to cross The Penitentiary off my goal list for this hunt. Not a terrible first experience raiding. I wish I could have bought more, but at the price I decided to save money for future stores.

Still Searching:

Deadly Prey

555

Woodchipper Massacre

House Party

House Party 2

Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark (Big Box)

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow

The Town That Dreaded Sundown 

31 Days Of Horror Final Body Count

As many of the readers of this blog may have noticed, I have been keeping track of the amount of murder scenes in each film I watched this past month. I always do this each year and tally up the total body count at the end of the month. This year I set a goal of at least 200 deaths that I honestly didn't think I'd achieve. After watching multiple films with absolutely no murder scenes I still managed to barely squeek by and hit my goal. With a huge assist from Maniac Cop 2 I came to a final body count of 202!

One again I'd just like to thank the readers for giving this blog the time of day. I set another goal this year to get at least 400 pageviews by the end of the month. I honestly didn't think I'd make it but I actually exceeded it. 458 Pageviews in the month of October! Thank you so much. I'm going to continue to try and produce material for this blog and all the VHS collectors out there.

Next week I'm embarking on a week and a half long journey with a couple of VHS hunting comrades. We're going to be on the hunt for hidden treasures of the video world. I'm going to be keeping a journal on this blog of our adventures and our findings! Some of the posts may not have much to do with tapes and some will probably have everything to do with them. I'm going to chronicle the ups and downs of a VHS hunt. So I hope the readers will stay tuned for that. I'm looking forward to doing more written reviews in the future. I'll also be working diligently to start bringing you video reviews! Stay tuned.

Day 31: The Gate 2

The Gate was a special effects/stop motion showcase that had some really impressive sequences. The Gate 2 continues the legacy of great stop motion and special effects, but this time adds much more entertaining characters and dialogue. The results are a movie that's much easier to follow leading into a great finale.

5 years have passed since Terrence and his friend Glenn first opened the gate. Glenn and his family have moved away and Terrence's father has lost his job due to his alcoholism. Terrence now wishes to use the gate to grant wishes that will help his father get his life back. When performing the ritual though, he is interrupted by a group of delinquents. Interested in the ritual John, his girlfriend Liz, and Moe join in and each make their own wishes. The wishes seem to be granted at first, but all is not as it seems with the gate.

Louise Tripp returns to the role of Terrence Chandler. He does a fantastic job portraying the nerdy teen with a vast knowledge of demonology. The rest of the cast does a respectable job with their acting. It's really an entertaining script that helps their characters stand out. The film is full of entertaining  dialogue  and it's characters are just more developed and interesting than in the original.

The real reason anyone is going to give The Gate 2 a watch is for the special effects. It has a lot to live up to since its predecessor has some of the best stop motion animation I've ever seen. The Gate 2 doesn't disappoint. It doesn't really surprise either. As expected, the stop motion remains crisp and impressive here. There are also some great creature effects in the finale. However if I were to compare the sequel to it's predecessor I'd have to give the slight edge to the original in regards to it's animation. Where The Gate 2 makes improvement is in it's set pieces. The finale is nothing short of awesome in it's display of creature effects, stop motion, and set pieces.

The Gate 2 makes improvements in it's characters and plot.  It's final scenes, while impressive, fail to meet up the chaos of the original. The ending is much more coherent, but not more entertaining. But with it's improvements to story and dialogue, they pretty much break even. If you enjoyed the first one, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't like the sequel. This is a great sequel.

Body Count: 0

Side Note: The alcoholic dad sub plot is surprisingly dark. Seeing the dad coming home hammered at least had an effect on me. Happy Halloween!!

Day 30: The 13th Floor

The 13th Floor is an Australian production filmed in 1988 by Chris Roache. Roache was apparently fresh out of film school and shot this in 24 days. The production was troubled, and the film ultimately went straight to video. It's got intriguing cover art but so does every other movie from this era. And like those most of those films, The 13th Floor is mostly a bore.

The film follows a young girl who witnesses her father murder a young boy by electrocution. 12 years later, the girl runs away from her family to live in an abandoned office space with her two friends. The space is on the 13th floor of the building where her father murdered the young boy 12 years ago. Unknown to her and her friends, the ghost of the boy still haunts the floor. Learning of his daughter's runaway, her father sends hitmen on her trail to make sure she doesn't reveal any details of his crime.

As boring as the plot and overall movie is, there are some redeeming qualities. There is a good atmosphere during the very rare ghost scenes. Some of the kill scenes have some surprising makeup effects for aftermath gore. The acting is all around passable and the direction shows some promise for a first outing. The first hitman character even stands out with his over the top cursing and sadistic remarks.

These are all really brief flashes of promise though as the rest of the film is really just a drag to sit through. There are far too many scenes that have nothing to do with what this movie is really about, a ghost. By the end of the film the supernatural element feels like an afterthought. Isn't that what we paid to see?

Body Count:6

Side Note: Apparently this did really well in rental store in the UK. A silver sales award? The cover art is alright...but not THAT good.

Day 29: The Last Horror Film

Some people consider The Last Horror Film to be Maniac 2. This isn't true though. Maniac 2 was actually in production but couldn't be completed before Joe Spinell unfortunately passed away. You can actually see a scene made for Maniac 2 on The Last Horror Film's DVD extras. But we don't talk about DVD's here. It's an interesting assumption, since The Last Horror film is much more lighthearted than Maniac.

Joe Spinell plays a disturbed aspiring film director who is obsessed with actress Jana Bates (Could be a nod to Psycho). Jana is a scream queen with A-Lister popularity. Joe packs his bags and informs his mother that he is traveling to Cannes Film Festival in France. Upon arrival he embarks upon a mission to make a horror film starring Bates. Directors, Producers, and Agents all turn him down and begin mysteriously disappearing.

The Last Horror Film has decent gore. Nothing spectacular, but definitely enough to keep you satisfied. Scenes of films being screened at the festival are particularly great. There's a hilarious scene where Jana Bates has her face completely burned off. Judges at the festival are impressed with it and unanimously vote Bates for an award.

The plot is an interesting take on the slasher genre. Having the killer film all the murders (At fantastic, un-achievable angles in most cases) as he commits them is a unique touch for the time. There is even a decent plot twist that is completely unexpected. A lot of slasher films have you expecting a twist for the entire film, by the end you can usually figure it out. The best twists are executed when you don't expect it and that's whats done here.

Joe Spinell does an excellent job in the role he's pretty much typecasted as. A sweat covered Spinell always looks sleazy and creepy. He's perfectly suited for such a role. He does a great job lightening the character up a bit to fit the tone of the film. Fans of Spinell will be pleased with his work here and slightly different approach to a mentally disturbed character.

The Last Horror Film is a fun slasher film that is sure to please genre fans.  There's plenty of nudity, decent gore, quality performances (as good as you can ask for a movie like this), and tons of comedic moments. You can't outdo Maniac, so The Last Horror Film became self aware and added some funny moments. It's not too comedic though that it ruins the good atmospheric horror scenes.

Body Count:5

Side Note:  Vinny's( Joe Spinell) mother is played by Joe Spinell's actual mother. You can tell they're having a blast working with each other on camera. Their dialogue exchanges are some of the most comical parts of the film.

Day 28: Fade To Black

Fade To Black is a little slasher film that pays tribute to more films than you can shake a stick at. Not just horror films, but a healthy dosage of crime thrillers and dramas too. This film is literally packed full of posters, stock scenes, sound clips, and spoofed classic scenes. It's pretty fun comedy horror for fans of classic film.

Eric Binford is an outcast who is obsessed classic films. He deals with ridicule everywhere from home  to his job at a film distributers warehouse. He meets with a young woman named Marilyn, whom he notices has a striking resemblance to Marilyn Monroe. Believing her to actually be Monroe, he asks her on a date which she accepts. But when she unintentionally stands him up, Eric becomes an unstable homicidal maniac dressing as characters from classic films when preying on his victims.

The biggest knock that I have on Fade To Black is the extensive use of guns for death scenes. I'm always of the opinion that guns have no place in a killers hand in a slasher movie. It sort of fits here since Eric is obviously a big fan of old gangster films. I would have rather seen Eric dress as more classic horror villains for his kills. We only get two horror themed costumes throughout that make up the best parts of the film.

All the nods to various  classic films are sure to get a laugh from movie buffs. The obvious spoof of the Psycho shower scene is a standout. The acting isn't bad, but it's not fantastic either. The lead does a decent job until he does his over the top villain laugh. His laugh isn't so over the top that it's funny, it's pretty cringe worthy.

All in all, Fade To Black is an entertaining slasher film. Without much gore or many actual creepy moments it doesn't really separate itself from the pack. It's interesting concept and constant spoofing are what make it worth at least one watch.  Fans of classic film may enjoy it enough for a couple more viewings. Slightly above average.

Body Count:6

Side Note: Be on the lookout for a young Mickie Rourke as a bully coworker of Eric. He's seen Casablanca over 50 times.

Day 27: Alien Predators

It's kind of shocking to me that this film is as underappreciated by those who have seen it as it is. Let's take a look at the box: Fantastic cover, cool title, not so clever tag line. It's pretty obvious that you aren't going to get some sort of James Cameron masterpiece when you throw this tape in. Anyone with experience in the genre knows that these are usually signs of a bad movie. What are you trying to cover up? To my surprise however, Alien Predators is surprisingly good campy fun.

Two friends invite an attractive girl to come with them on their trip through Spain. There's a pretty comical love triangle brewing between them as the two lifelong buddies start to compete for her attention. Unbeknownst to them, an alien race that uses humans as a host has spread like an epidemic through a Spanish village. This village, of course, happens to be the next stop on our bizarre love triangle's (See what I did there?) journey.

The plot is about as basic as it gets. But what do you expect from a movie of this level? It's all been done before in better films, like Night Of The Creeps. While that film is definitely self aware, Alien Predators had to amp up the comedy even more since they probably didn't have the budget for a spectacle like Night of The Creeps. It all works out with the main characters constantly delivering cheesy one liners and a healthy dosage of slap stick.

There isn't too much gore to be seen here but when it's done it's done very well. Most of the effects are aftermath gore that is actually really good. My biggest knock on this movie is that you don't really see much of the actual aliens.  That's a pretty big knock since this movie is called "Alien Predators" and is a horror/comedy not exactly built for suspense. The ending scene is an absolute blast that gives you one of the best gore scenes in the whole film and a very clear look at the alien creature effects. So that kinda makes up for it.

Nobody that watches B Horror films on VHS should ever expect a clinic in filmmaking when they slip in a film like this. Understand what you're watching. Alien Predators is a campy B horror film that IS unfortunately a little short on the actual aliens. But while it doesn't make up for it, the film's wacky sense of humor make it easy to get through. It's a lot of fun and should be checked out by anyone who likes to laugh at these things.

Body Count: 4

Side Note: This movie is apparently to sequel to a film called "Mutant" which I also own. I hate watching things out of order but I didn't realize until I started the movie. I'll probably watch Mutant at some point before the month is over.

Day 26: Night Monster

It's pretty common practice in the film industry to tout the most well known actor in the film even if they don't have a major role. Bela Lugosi dominates the cover of this tape! But Lugosi fans should beware that his role in the film is not major. He plays the minor part of a butler who is all but forgotten by the end of the film. But of course Universal had to make it seem like Lugosi was the lead actor.

A wealthy paralyzed man invites 3 doctors who cared for him to his creepy mansion. There he reveals that he has been working with an Eastern mystic to learn new ways to cure his paralysis. Also arriving on the scene is a Psychiatrist summoned by his sister to prove her own sanity. As the night continues the doctors are murdered one by one and a dark secret slowly comes to light.

Apparently this film was mentioned by Alfred Hitchcock himself as having an important influence on his own work. It's not hard to see. The film is filled with suspense that carries through all the way to the closing minutes. The mystery of the killers identity isn't too hard to figure out or anything, but they add a few wrinkles that make you second guess it.

I've heard some high praise for the acting in this film. I can't say I really agree. I don't watch too many classic horror films often so I'm not sure if it's the style of the period or what. The characters in the film didn't sell me on the terror of being trapped in a creepy house with a murderer. No character seems to express any sort of fear what so ever until they are actually confronted by the killer. Quite the contrary, everybody seems to remain absolutely calm as they continue to discover more bodies. I'd think there would be all sorts of emotional chaos, but hey! I guess I've never been stuck in a house with a homicidal maniac before so what do I know?

Night Monster was a let down to me in multiple categories. While not exactly a terrible film, the final reveal didn't nearly measure up to the suspense. It's also always awful to see a talented actor like Bela Lugosi barely utilized at all. Such seems to be the case in many of his films and it's just mind blowing to me that DRACULA himself didn't get more lead roles in his time.

Body Count:5

Side Note: I'm assuming the Police Captain is a comic relief character? He is absolutely useless! His crime solving techniques could only be described as primitive at best. He's regularly made to look like an idiot.

Day 25: Night School

Night School follows the exploits of possibly one of the most bad ass slasher villains to ever grace the screen. A motorcycle riding, suicide diving, girl decapitating killer that the police call "The Headhunter". That's about as bad ass as it gets if you ask me. Unfortunately, an abundance of long dialogue stretches slows the momentum of the film until a decent plot twist resurrects it in the closing minutes.

Students of an all girl college are being found decapitated. All the girls seem to be connected to a college professor who is known for having affairs with his students. A detective struggles to put together the clues as the body count continues to grow. It all culminates in a car/motorcycle chase scene that leads to the capture of the killer. Or does it?

For a film which uses decapitation as it's primary kill there aren't many on screen decapitations. In fact, there are none! We see a couple of decapitated heads here and there but we never actually see the heads get severed. Each time the killer goes for the final slash we're treated to the dreaded cutaway. As huge fan of decapitations this was a major letdown for me personally. As you can probably guess from all this, there is very little gore at all in the film.

The characters in Night School are all pretty unlikable. The detective is kind of a dick, the professor  is definitely a dick, and his assistant is pretty boring for the majority of the film. Most of the victims have very little screen time before they're beheaded by our motorcycle helmet wearing badass of a killer. The film isn't effected at all by their deaths, they're literally all just more bodies for the detective to derive clues from.

Despite its lack of gore and long stretches of dialogue, Night School still doesn't come off as a complete waste of time. The twist at the end isn't too hard to figure out but it works. There are still some entertaining moments to be found in the relatively bloodless kills. And of course, there is "The Headhunter"! A representation of all things badass! Night School passes off as an average slasher film from an era flooded with slashers. Worth watching at least once for hardcore slasher geeks.

Body Count: 6

Side Note: Eleanor's shower has to have the heaviest water pressure of any shower on the planet. It sounds like a fucking typhoon.

Day 24: Ghoulies

Charles Band's Ghoulies was made in an attempt to cash in on the success of Gremlins, which was released the previous year. Surprisingly, the film bears little to no resemblance to it's inspiration. This is both a good and bad thing in this case. Nobody wants to see a complete ripoff but with a lower budget. Nobody really wants to a series of boring satanic rituals either.

Johnathon inherits an old mansion when he learns that his estranged father has died. Upon moving into the mansion John informs his girlfriend that he plans to quit school in order restore the old home. Johnathon begins acting strangely and begins performing black magic rituals out of instinct. His dead father is seemingly using Johnathon from beyond the grave to resurrect him.

The consensus states that Ghoulies is actually a horror comedy more than a straight forward horror film. I don't really see it. Most of the actors try to play their roles seriously. Sure the dialogue is cheesy and the actors aren't as talented as they probably believe. But there aren't any moments where the film seems self aware. It just mostly plays out as a bad horror film that's actually trying to be good.

Are you a fan of demon summoning and black magic rituals? If yes, this movie is probably for you. The pacing here is absolutely dreadful. We're given ritual after ritual after ritual for what seems like 3/4 of the movie. The only thing we're given to break up the monotony is a very short but entertaining party scene and an almost sex scene (That ends up being another damn ritual!!) Once the film actually gets going, its pretty good. It just takes what seems like an eternity of ritual scenes to get there.

The Ghoulies themselves don't have much to do for most of the movie. Once they do actually get some action, it's pretty straightforward killing. If Band was planning to cash in on Gremlins couldn't he have at least ripped off the wackiness of the Gremlins? The Ghoulies just kinda wander around awaiting orders from Johnathon. Sure, they look kinda stupid and funny but that doesn't compare to how off the wall the Gremlins are.

The final act of the film is where all the action is. I'm not entirely sure that it warrants an entire watch just to see these scenes. Sure they're good fun and all, but nothing that really separates from any other horror movie out there. If you're in the mood for a good Gremlins inspired small monster film, just stick with Critters.

Body Count:0?

Side Note: The giant Jack in The Box scenes are actually kinda creepy. One of the better things about this time waster. I'm a sucker for a good party scene and this movie has one. It's short, but the dancing is priceless.

Day 23: The Prey

"It's not human. And it has an axe!" How can you resist a tag line like that? I couldn't. I first stumbled upon this film on a bootleg dvd table at a horror convention. I ended up buying a Halloween 6:Producers Cut bootleg (Terrible decision, it's awful and now I own an official release on Bluray). But The Prey caught my eye and I've been on it's trail ever since. Now that I've seen it, it's not great. But not bad either. When you are disappointed by highly anticipated movies as often as I am, even something as sub par as this comes off as very satisfying.

A group of teenagers head to the woods for some camping fun. They're having a great time with their scary campfire stories, sex, and swimming. But unbeknownst to them, they're obviously be watched by something unseen in the woods. This mysterious figure begins killing off the teens one by one.

The Prey could have ended in approximately 45 minutes. The producers must have thought that they needed to fill some major space, since almost half of the movie is stock footage of wildlife. This is a common trademark of backwoods slasher movies, but it's unfortunate here since the actual movie is actually quite good (by genre standards). There are even parts where things are meaninglessly in slow motion. I'm honestly convinced that it was all just to stretch the movie out since there wasn't enough material to fill an hour and 20 minutes. Couldn't they have just added more disposable teen characters and filled time with their death scenes?

Speaking of death scenes, this film has a couple of goodies. Nothing is outstanding, but most of the kills are either gory enough or something a bit different from the norm. You don't see too many tripwire trap kills in these early 80's slashers. So you can only imagine my delight seeing a young lady get scooped up by a rope and have her face smashed by swinging into a tree. There is also a really impressive scene where a guy's throat is ripped wide open. I dig it!

The Prey has cool makeup effects, nice kills, an awesome horror score, some decent jump scares, and characters so dumb that you can't wait for them to die. It's just such a damn shame that you have to endure what I can only assume is a combined 35 minutes of stock footage to get through it all. I'd say it's worth it just to see it just once. There really is a lost gem hidden between all the snakes, bears, insects, and owls.

Body Count:8

Side Note: This is a spoiler. The producers must be extremely prejudiced against burn victims. So much so that they consider them not human anymore. Yeah, it's sort of a ripoff of The Burning. Damn tag lines...

Day 22: Anguish

Anguish is a movie within a movie (within a movie?).  It's an interesting idea that's been toyed with in some of other films (See Demons if you haven't already. It rips). But with a lot of cool ideas, sometimes the execution isn't all there. Such is the disappointing case of Anguish.

The film opens with scenes of a crazy mother figure played by Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist) hypnotizing her son(These scenes are dragged out for a painfully long duration) and having him commit murders for her. This goes on for approximately 20 minutes before we even realize that it's all just a movie being watched in a theater. The film is having an odd effect on some of the audience members watching. Suddenly a psychopath rambling about his mother begins murdering people in the theater.

One of the biggest disappointments I had with Anguish is how incredibly lame the real life killer is compared to the one in the movie. The killer in the movie is armed to the teeth with scalpels that he uses to mercilessly murder his victims before he proceeds to cut out their eyes! Awesome! Meanwhile, in the real world, our killer just goes around mumbling about his mother and shooting people. There is nothing lamer than a killer who only uses a gun in a horror film. Couldn't they have just given him a kitchen knife or something?

There are some plot elements that never get explained. The film that is being screened in the theater obviously has some sort of power over those who view it. But it's never explained how or why that happens. It's mentioned that the real life killer has seen the film several times. Is he under the influence of the movies power? There is definitely something supernatural about this damn movie! But they never explain it.

I've had the gore in this movie hyped to me before, which is initially why I was interested in viewing it. The gore is decent at best. Everything stays grounded and realistic but nothing truly impressive happens (aside from the infamous eye stab scene, which was really cool). There is some gore here but it's nothing for gore hounds to try and seek this movie out for.

I enjoyed Anguish and it's concept. There are some seriously brutal looking and creepy scenes. The acting for the most part is acceptable. There are a few cool shots that utilize the "movie within a movie" idea. Unfortunately I found myself really wanting to just watch the scalpel movie and not really caring what was happening in the theater. It's really a shame to see all the potential this movie had be squandered on needlessly.

Body Count:16

Side Note: I think a lot of people find Zelda Rubinstein's performance to be creepy here. I think her voice is incredibly annoying. The ending credits are pretty cool.

Day 21: The Attic

If I recall correctly, the most I ever spent on a single tape was for The Attic. Either that or The Silent Scream. I can't really remember! I just remember being sucked in by the beautiful big box and insanely creepy cover art. I knew the movie couldn't possibly match the greatness that was the cover but I had to have it anyway. I was right. But that doesn't necessarily mean this was a bad movie.

Carrie Snodgress plays Louise, a depressed librarian who spends most of her time caring for her cold wheelchair bound father (Ray Milland). 19 years earlier Louise was supposed to marry a man named Robert. However, he mysteriously disappeared the day of the wedding. After 19 years of torturing herself over the loss, Louise finally begins to move on. But there is a dark secret in her house and with each step towards personal salvation she comes closer to finding it.

The Attic has a major identity crisis. There are parts of the film that are suspenseful and parts that are just character driven drama. It only flashes it's horror elements briefly throughout the film before finally going full horror during the last 5 minutes. As a result, horror fanatics will find themselves very disappointed. The film has so much potential as a horror film, thriller, or even a drama. But it never really goes full on into any genre and unfortunately it slows the plot to an almost complete halt at one point.

Snodgress and Milland are both excellent in their roles here. Snodgress in particular shines playing the unstable Louise. She portrays a wide array of emotions to the point where we don't whether to fear her or pity her. Milland is very believable as the asshole father. He never comes across as likable in the least and he isn't supposed to. Great work by the actors involved.

There almost seems to have been some conflict in the production of the film. It's so odd to have a movie with so much potential lose it's way somewhere along the line. It comes across as though they were writing the damn thing as they were filming once they got halfway in. A lot of suspense is built up for a rather anticlimactic reveal at the end. It's a damn shame, but the art still looks badass on my shelf.

Body Count:1

Side Note: If this movie were marketed more as a drama I feel like Horror fans would appreciate it more. It has the exact opposite effect now where it seems as though drama fans take to it more than horror fans do. But there is a cool monkey in it which makes it enjoyable for everyone at least while he's on screen.

Day 20: Videodrome

Videodrome is one of the strangest films I've ever seen. So strange in fact, that I'm having trouble finding the words to review it. I'm not entirely sure what I just watched. Who was the real antagonist? What was real? What does it mean? Expect these questions to linger with you long after the credits  start scrolling up the screen.

Max Renn (James Woods) is the CEO of a small local television station that apparently airs nothing but softcore porn and extreme violence. Renn wants something more cutting edge for his audience. One of his employees introduces him to Videodrome, a show produced in Pittsburgh that depicts extremely violent torture and death with absolutely no plot. After watching Videodrome Max begins having increasingly violent hallucinations. As he tries to uncover the mystery of Videodrome he falls deeper and deeper into a scheme hatched by it's creators.

To call the plot of Videodrome convoluted would be a massive understatement. I'm not even 100% sure what Videodrome actually is! One second, its a show. Next thing you know, it's a collection of tapes. It's never clearly defined and the more we learn about it the more confusing it gets. The only thing I know for certain is that you don't want to watch it or your brain will get all sorts of fucked up.

James Woods and the rest of the cast do an outstanding job. The film has a very grim tone and the actors really contribute to that. Each character is presented as very serious. Nobody is really cracking any jokes or one liners here. Woods expertly transforms Renn from a man apparently numb to the sex and violence he promotes to a man on the brink of insanity when confronted with those same images in his own mind.

The special effects are the true highlight of Videodrome. Rick Baker (An American Werewolf In London) handles the effects and really shows off his talent. There are a wide array of effects to be seen here. We aren't just dealing with awesome gore, but we're also seeing objects bend and move in ways they shouldn't, and body parts transforming. It really is a special effects showcase and any aspiring practical effects artist should give this one a look.

Videodrome  isn't David Cronenberg's best entry into the Body Horror genre. He would really come into form 3 years later for the remake of The Fly. But as confusing as Videodrome is, it has an art house sort of appeal. As a fan of David Lynch films I have a really hard time hating on a film just for making my head hurt a little bit. Videodrome has great special effects and great performances from it's cast. Check it out.

Body Count:5

Side Note: I'm still not sure who the fuck is supposed to be the antagonist! Everybody just seems so damn cold blooded.

Day 19: Zombie Island Massacre

When people watch a zombie film there are usually a few things that they are watching it for. Gore, Flesh Eating, and last but not least, Zombies. Zombie Island Massacre doesn't really deliver in any of these categories. It's possible that one zombie appears, but it is never really explained if it's just a show or not. It's a film that just falls flat, it's not so bad that you have to watch nor good in any sense of the word.

The plot is is your typical scenario where a group of couples goes on a trip to an exotic island. On the island they're obviously going to get separated from their driver. Obviously after they're separated they begin falling victim to an unseen killer stalking in the shadows. If this sounds more like a slasher plot to you, that's probably because this is actually kind of a slasher film. It even has a twist ending. Not a very good one, but a twist nonetheless.

The gore isn't completely nonexistent. Most of the kills are zoomed in wound shots. We do get one extremely awful decapitation scene but other than that there isn't anything to see here. This film falls completely flat on it's ass in the zombie genre and isn't really a good slasher either. It could have been mildly successful as a campy horror film. But the actors all appear to be trying to make this a serious affair. As a result we're stuck with a pretty boring deceitful excuse of a movie. Only put this one on if you have enough things to occupy your attention as it plays in the background.

Body Count: 10
Side Note: At least the body count was decent.My last few films have all had a shortage of kill scenes.