Director: David Schmoeller
Studio: Empire Pictures/Full Moon Entertainment
Synopsis:
1939, Bodega Bay, California. A marionette craftsman named Andre Toulon (William Hickey) takes a gun to his own head as members of the Nazi SS converge upon his home, but not before hiding his treasured puppets in a chest along with the Indian puppet, named Gengie, in a panel in the wall.
The scene shifts to 1989. Four psychics meet for a stay at an Inn in Bodega Bay, all which claim to have been lured there, through visions of a colleague named Neil Gallagher. The group soon finds out that Neil has since committed suicide via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Strange visions begin to plague the group of psychics and The Puppets begin their systematic extermination of the unsuspecting guests. Soon it is realized that the recently departed Neil, although now deceased, happened across Toulon's formula that would grant him everlasting life following his own demise, as well as Andre's secret to bringing inanimate objects, such as puppets, to life.
The newly resurrected Neil, newly appointed Master of the puppets, has commanded them to kill his former colleagues and they obediently begin to do so, until he hurts one of their own. Their subsequent revolt, leaving him in quite the unhappy and eliminated state.
Mike's Thoughts:
I LOVE this movie! It has remained a favorite of mine from the time I first laid
eyes on it. You cannot get anymore innovative than the imaginative storyline and fresh and well-designed characters that this film introduced. Watch it repeatedly!
Look For:
Creepy ballroom scene (I had nightmares for weeks!) and the seductive Leech Woman.
Synopsis:
A group of young adults, led by Mark Loftmore (Zach Galligan) and Sarah Brightman (Deborah Foreman), take a trip to a recently opened wax museum in their town. We soon discover something evil lurks behind the doors of this once, seemingly innocent gallery. The curator of the museum, David Lincoln (David Warner), seeks to open a portal to Hell through which horrifying monsters of histories past will rise again to conquer the living. In order to accomplish this, Lincoln must find several specimens to sacrifice to the dark and malevolent gods. One by one, the protagonists discover that the wax effigies they came to admire are both very real and very dangerous.
Mike's Thoughts:
This movie was one that I can recall first seeing at a young age. I have always been mesmerized by the allure and mystery of the wax museum and this movie completely acts out all of my fantasies regarding this gallery of wonder.
Yes, it's low-budget. Yes, it's campy. Yes, it's awesome!
Look For:
Zach Galligan (star of Gremlins 1&2) as Mark Loftmore.
Director: Don Coscarelli
Studio: AVCO Embassy Pictures
Synopsis:
Phantasm (also released as Never Dead in Australia) is a low-budget horror film produced in 1977 and released in 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli.
PHANTASM is the horror shocker that started it all.
Michael Baldwin and Bill Thornbury star as two brothers who discover that their local mortuary hides a legion of hooded killer dwarf-creatures, a flying silver sphere of death, and is home to a sinister mortician known only as the Tall Man. This nefarious undertaker (with an iconic performance by Angus Scrimm) enslaves the souls of the damned and in the process, "digs" his place into the pantheon of classic horror villains.
As the two brothers explore bizarre events unfolding in their small town, the mystery of The Morningside Mortuary unfolds. PHANTASM remains unlike any fright film that’s come before. Is it reality or a dark phantasm?
Reggie Bannister co-stars as the intrepid ice cream vendor (named Reggie, would you believe?) who would lay his body down on the fires of hell for his friends.
Phantasm shall forever remain “A provocative blend of science-fiction, horror and fantasy, the Phantasm films continue to haunt the consciousness long after the Halloweens and Friday the 13ths have faded from memory.” - Rue Morgue Magazine
Mike's Thoughts:
This film embedded itself into my psyche from a young age. There has never been a time that I have been in a cemetery, mausoleum, at a funeral, or caught the foreign scent of formaldehyde, where I have not thought of this movie. The villain (Angus Scrimm, The Tall Man) is looming, mysterious, memorable and just plain creepy. Though several follow-ups have been produced, the initial film takes the cake. A cult-horror classic that will forever remain a King in it's genre.
Look For:
The sphere scene in the mausoleum and the über acting of Reggie Bannister, who definitively proves that a bald man CAN and SHOULD always remain comfortable and sound in his ponytail rocking abilities!
Synopsis:
A comedy/horror film starring William Katt, George Wendt, Richard Moll and Kay Lenz.
Roger Cobb is a Vietnam veteran, whose career as a horror novelist takes a turn for the worse when his son Jimmy mysteriously disappears while visiting an Aunt's house. Rogers' obsessive search for Jimmy ultimately dissolves both his marriage and his writing career and the sudden death of his Aunt brings Roger back to the HOUSE where his nightmares began. The evil that lurks within the house forces Roger to endure a harrowing journey into his past.
Mike's Thoughts:
By now, you more than likely have come to the conclusion that I'm a sucker for campy, low-budget comedy/horror and this film encompasses everything I love in the genre.
This movie has it all...lovable 1980's celebrities, a light-hearted and interesting plot, and special effects that bleed camp. I will always cherish this film as a landmark in the genre and will defend it til death.
Synopsis:
In this unsettling tale based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft, a group of college students set out to prove that the infamous Winthrop House isn't haunted. But just a few hours into their slumber party, they realize they aren't alone. Turns out the lingering rumors about a terrifying creature that was born there some 300 years ago are true ... a being so gruesome its parents couldn't bear to give it a name.
Mike's Thoughts:
As I have stated in the past, I am addicted to all things Lovecraft, so my impressions are usually pretty biased. All in all though, this is a typical
1980's take on a classic H.P. Lovecraft story that in my opinion, delivers.
There is a shortage of recently produced films based on Lovecraft writings, so in order to find anything of notoriety, one must delve into the spectacular realm of the 1980's. Here in this period, we find films that defy the lack of large studio funding, time-induced advanced film technology, and the absence of mullet
hairstyles. This film is one to be seen if you are a Lovecraft fan, enjoy spooky atmospheres, stereotypical characters and/or geeky leading men. A film that is here to stay.
Look For:
The aloof and intellectually judgmental acting by Mark Kinsey Stephenson
(Randolph Carter)
Synopsis:
Director Peter Jackson's second feature cheerfully trumps the gross-out quotient of his splatterfest debut, the appropriately named Bad Taste. The tone is cartoonishly comic, and the premise is simple: The village dweeb (Timothy Balme) is trying to maintain a budding romance with the sweet Paquita (Diana Penalver) while concealing the fact that his overbearing mum (Elizabeth Moody, in an amazing good-sport performance) is a flesh-eating zombie. (She owes her condition to a bite from a "Sumatran Rat Monkey" at the local zoo.) Complicating matters even further is Les, a greedy uncle (Ian Watkin), who suspects that his sister has died and is eager to occupy her elegantly furnished Victorian mansion. The climax is a housewarming party Les throws to celebrate his "inheritance;" what he really gets is his comeuppance, thanks to his sister and her similarly afflicted zombie pals, who burst out of their basement prison to turn the guests into appetizers. Our hero finally cuts a wide swath through the zombie party crashers with the help of a rotary blade lawn mower, leaving the house awash in blood and body parts in order to save his romance.
Mike's Thoughts:
What a friggin' classic! This is a MUST SEE for anyone that has loved such films as "Evil Dead", "Evil Dead II", "Army Of Darkness", "Shaun Of The Dead" and pretty much any film that is loaded, tongue-in-cheek, with slapstick gore beyond imagination.
A main staple in my collection!
Look For:
Lawnmower Scene and that damned cute baby!
Synopsis:
Based loosely on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, a short story by H.P. Lovecaft.
Charles Dexter Ward's wife enlists the help of a private detective (played by John Terry) to find out what her husband (played by Chris Sarandon), is up to in a remote cabin owned by his family for centuries. The husband is a chemical engineer, and the smells from his experiments (and the delivery of what appear to be human remains at all hours), are beginning to arouse the attention of neighbors and local law enforcement officials. When the detective and wife find a diary of the husband's ancestor from 1771, and reports of gruesome murders in the area begin to surface, they begin to suspect that some very unnatural experiments are being conducted in the old house.
Mike's Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this movie. It is a straight to VHS, budget-challenging film that manages to present a storyline that outweighs the lack of mind-blowing effects. What can you do? It was made in 1992! It stars Chris Sarandon (The Princess Bride, Fright Night, Child's Play and the voice of Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Jane Sibbett (Heddy on TV's Herman's Head and Ross Geller's Lesbian ex-wife on the hit TV sitcom, Friends). It's definitely worth a watch if you're into low-budget horror and enjoy the writings of Lovecraft. It is not spectacular, although I felt fulfilled by the end.
Look For:
A major lapse in continuity in one scene. The two protagonists (Terry and Sibbett), are walking through the underground catacombs in which Ward conducts his horrifying experiments. Terry is laying down remote-detonated explosives in order to bring an end to the sacrilege. Terry and a suitcase toting Sibbett are both in tip top shape. -Change Scene-
Terry is shown fireman carrying an apparently unconscious, suitcase-free Sibbett out of the building. He gently buckles her into the car and races her to the hospital, but not before stopping the car a safe distance away to detonate the explosives via a remote control.
What happened to her you may ask?
Synopsis:
This movie is based on the short story "Dagon" written by Howard Phillips Lovecraft in 1917...of course this adaptation has been modernized, although the key vision intended for the story remains prevalent throughout. The budget on this film was none too extravagant but I will back the film up with a nod for a job well done considering meager funding. The story starts out with two couples on a sailboat, out for a day of sun and laptop-brandishing stock exchange inquiries. A storm suddenly rolls in from behind a small fishing village close-by on shore and the schooner is tossed into a random monolithic rock in the middle of the ocean. A woman is trapped below deck with her leg pinned through a hole betwixt the rock and the side of the boat (which is now filling with water.) Her beau, (the captain) will not leave his ship to dinghy over to the village to seek medical aid for his bleeding wife, so the other couple retires to do so.
Upon arrival at the village, the initial perception of the inhabitants there is a creepy "there's something not quite right with these bug-eyed mutants" sort of way. In a nutshell, Ezra (played by Paul Marsh) and Bárbara (played by Raquel Meroño) land on shore, skulking and bandit-masked villagers give them the willies, Bárbara gets separated from Ezra, Ezra finds himself chased by cultist fish-men, ultimately leading him into a room in a dilapidated Victorian mansion...where he is then seduced by the beautiful Uxía Cambarro (Macarena Gómez), only to find out that she has tentacles where legs were thought to reside beneath the sheets.
Ezra flees the mansion and comes to the realization that the locals have a penchant for skinning outsiders and wearing them. The strange octo-lady turns out to be the High Priestess for the cult of Dagon (sea-deity extraordinaire) and Ezra finds out that Captain Courageous; who stayed on the boat, has since perished and his woman with the trapped leg; who has since become an amputee, has apparently been forcibly impregnated by the fish god, himself. Her demise quickly follows suit in a "if I am to die, I will take the fish-baby to hell with me", self-inflicted disembowelment. Ezra then becomes separated from Bárbara amidst the streets of fish-towne...still trailed by the leg-dragging, lung gurgling Gorton's Fisherman-types again...finds Bárbara in an underground catacomb, dangling over a water-filled pit, surrounded by human-flesh-wearing-fish-cultists in a Dagonic ceremony being led by Squid Legged Hussy #1, Uxia. Ezra douses worshipers in gasoline, sets them ablaze and is soon led into dialogue from the Priestess, that reveals that she and him are born of the same Father, that they are both kin and lovers to be destined.
Bárbara is dropped into the pit (containing Dagon) and is instantaneously impregnated by him. Ezra pulls Bárbara out of the pit, only to have Dagon spring forth and snatch her, leaving nothing but hands and forearms dangling by chains. Ezra cries out (in a very Shatner-esque "KHAAAAAANN!" sort of way) and subsequently douses himself in gasoline to let Squid Lady know that he'd rather die than be betrothed to her. He then sets himself on fire...but is tackled by The Priestess, the two tumbling into the pit, putting out the flames. Ezra opens his eyes underwater, has third degree burns about 95% of his body, but notices that new found gills permit him to breathe in the water. He makes eye contact with squid girl, then swims after her into the darkness, and the credits roll. A touching tale of Love and Honor.
Mike's Thoughts:
The atmosphere in this movie is really it's saving grace. The archaic fishing village was believably creepy. The acting was not terrible. All in all, I liked this one. I'm a Lovecraft whore, so my opinion may be biased, but I CAN say that I do recommend it. Just give yourself the grace to not enter in taking it too seriously.
Look For:
Gnarly skinning scene...fans of any of the Hellraiser movies be vigilant.
