Night Of The Demons

     I have such a huge place in my heart for cheesy 80's horror. Pretty obvious, right? Which brings us to the most recent 8'0s treasure I've blown the dust off and given a whirl. I don't recall ever seeing NIGHT OF THE DEMONS in its entirety back in the day. I distinctly remember certain scenes here and there, but finally saw the entire film from start to finish last night. And let's just say, I'm so glad I crashed Angela's party, cuz it was awesome. NIGHT OF THE DEMONS is so outlandishly campy and absurd that it's impossible to take any of it seriously.  It's very much like THE EVIL DEAD in that respect.

      NOTD tells the story of nutjob Angela and loose Suzanne (memorably played by both Amelia Kinkade and Linnea Quigley), who on Halloween night, decide to throw a dance party at "Hull House", an abandoned funeral parlor. During a seance, a horde of demons are unleashed on the partying teenagers, and Angela and Suzanne become possessed. This is when NOTD kicks into high gear, as the two set out to infect the entire group of horny teens.  It's completely over-the-top, with boobs, blood, and plenty of demonic mayhem to spare.  Director Kevin Tenney (WITCHBOARD) obviously loves the genre and gives the frantic fright fest some nice touches along the way. You know how I am about my atmosphere, and NIGHT OF THE DEMONS is positively soaked in it. It's a bona fide cult classic, and pretty damn funny on top of it. And this movie works best with that right group of people under those right circumstances, if you know what I mean... It's silly, it's ridiculous, and frankly it's not October without it. And that's a huge part of why I love it.

       There's so much to love about NIGHT OF THE DEMONS- the bad acting, the cringe-inducing but hilarious puns, the outrageous gore effects, the boundless energy. Throw in some "Evil Dead" mayhem and some righteous 80s fashions, a great time is guaranteed.  It's certainly as fun as "The Evil Dead", maybe even more fun. This movie, like most starring Linnea Quigley, is certainly an acquired taste.  Those looking for a serious scare might look elsewhere. I can appreciate both myself- depending on my mood.  "Night Of The Demons" has made its mark on pop culture apparently, as it's yet another 80s classic to be remade.  I haven't seen the remake, but I would imagine it's pretty hard to replace the original.

Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2

     The original PROM NIGHT from 1980 is one of my favorite horror films of the decade. It's one of the most memorable slashers of the 80;s, in my opinion, and it obviously struck a chord with movie-goers as it has produced two sequels and a remake. PROM NIGHT was one of the more popular slasher films of the early 80's, so a sequel made sense after a few years.

      As I'm sure most everybody knows by now- this second installment has nothing whatsoever to do with the original PROM NIGHT. Besides them both taking place at Hamilton High, there is no continuity with the original storyline. No Jamie Lee Curtis, no killer- in fact, it's not even a slasher film. Here's the jist.

      It's 1957, and beautiful but loose Mary Lou Mahoney is caught cheating on her boyfriend Bill, who initiates a prank on Mary Lou. Of course, it backfires, and she winds up dead by her jilted ex-boyfriend  just as she was about to be crowned queen of the prom. Burned alive, to be exact. We flash forward 30 years later, and Bill is now principle of Hamilton High. His son is about to attend the prom with Vicki Carpenter, who finds a trunk in the school basement. She opens it, and finds Mary Lou's old prom dress. Guess what happens next? You betcha. The vengeful spirit of Mary Lou takes possession of pretty Vicki, and soon all hell breaks loose at doomed Hamilton High. I swear!

     This non-related sequel to the slasher classic PROM NIGHT is a pretty entertaining story of revenge from beyond the grave that gleefully rips off  many classic shockers without a trace of guilt throughout. Besides the obvious traces of CARRIE, it's also easy to spot the echoes of THE EXORCIST, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, and even a bit of THE EVIL DEAD thrown in for good measure. It's a fun and frantic slice of schlocky 80's teen horror that's almost impossible not to enjoy, as cheesy as it is. The cast and crew give it their all, and there's an obvious love of the genre that shows in the finished product.

     HELLO MARYLOU: PROM NIGHT 2 is much more of a black comedy than the original PROM NIGHT. As fun as it is, I still wish they had kept it more serious and dark, like the first film. I personally don't think this was the right direction to take the "Prom Night" franchise (not that it was my decision to make, but still...)- but then again could they have honestly done the original justice and believably continued the storyline from it? Probably not. Anyway, this sequel is certainly entertaining if a bit odd, quirky yet kinda cool. I can honestly say it was great fun watching,and I lump this one in with NIGHT OF THE DEMONS or THE EVIL DEAD. Over-the-top, frenetic, and fun.

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker AKA Night Warning

     Wow.  I just stumbled across a copy of the weirdly named "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" from 1983, also known as "Night Warning".  And let me tell you- what a fucking trip. Like, seriously.  It's the story of poor Billy Lynch, who's been raised by his over-protective and slightly off-kilter Aunt Cheryl. Her over-affectionate attitude towards her 17 year-old nephew is off-putting and creepy from the get go, and it only gets more and more weird.  Billy has grown up with Aunt Cheryl since the death of his parents over 14 years ago.  Feeling slightly smothered, he's ready to be on his own when he turns seventeen.  He wants to start college, and is dating a nice girl named Julie (Julia Duffy from "Newhart"!).  But Aunt Cheryl seems to have other ideas about that.  In fact, Aunt Cheryl is two steps from the nuthouse, and has a warped plan to keep Billy at home.  She has concocted a plan to keep him home and with her forever, but her plan backfires, and soon erupts into bloody violence.

     Within the first 15 minutes, unbalanced and lonely Cheryl stabs to death a plumber who refuses her blatant sexual advances. She claims it was self-defense as he tried to rape her, which results in a police investigation.  Into this madness comes another weirdo- a blatantly homophobic detective who's seething anti-gay obsessions are reaching a zenith. The investigation reveals that the plumber was in a gay love affair with Billy's coach at school... and possibly Billy himself. The homophobe detective becomes obsessed with pinning the murder on Billy.  All the while, Aunt Cheryl spirals farther and farther into madness...

      It's a lost gem of a slasher that completely got sidetracked by the likes of big-business horror sequels like "Friday the 13th Part 2" and "Halloween 2".  Although those are great slashers, "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" stands out because of its refusal to play by the typical slasher 'rules'.  Nothing is quite what it seems in this movie- in fact, pretty much every character seems a bit off their rocker.  Although the great Susan Tyrell 150% steals the show here.  Her portrayal of Aunt Cheryl is something that needs to be seen to be believed.  She is truly amazing and deserves much more credit than this film gets.  Jimmy McNichol gives an honest portrayal of a young man who just wants his independence, and Bo Svenson is near brilliant as Detective Carlson,who suffers from a severe streak of shocking homophobia.

     This is one ballsy slasher.  Addressing such spicy subjects as homosexuality and incest, "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" is a b-movie with a tremendous amount of originality and depth.  It's relatively unknown, and that's kinda sad.  As much as I love slashers, let's be real here.  Most of them are sorry excuses to line up a bunch of unlikable people just to kill them off.  Basically the work of morons with cameras.  But a movie like this one comes along that's slightly more complex, gripping, and original, and just gets ignored.  "Curtains" is another prime example of a lost slasher.

     "Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker" is prime 80s schlock- it's absolutely delicious in every way possible.  Why this movie hasn't achieved major cult status by this point is beyond me.  Susan Tyrell's awe-inspiring performance elevates this movie to a higher plateau for sure- her transformation from over-protective Aunt to full-blown, shrieking madwoman truly needs to be experienced.  And the film itself dares to go where other slashers never dared to go.  It offers so much more than just blood and gore.  It can best be described as a demented soap opera that somehow thinks it's a slasher film.  It could honestly offend many people today- there's no way possible this movie would be made and released in this day and age.  It's way too politically incorrect.  Watching it, I kept feeling as if I should be offended, yet I couldn't tear my eyes away from it.  Bo Svensen's character is truly hateful and homophobic- yet I was having an absolute blast with this movie...  But I think the whole point of all this is to show just how low humans can go with their obsessions.

     There are more and more rumors of an official DVD release, and it should have been available years ago.  This is definitely a one-of-a-kind slasher, and  if you ever somehow stumble across a copy, by all means watch it!  It's shocking, twisted, and all around crazy.
   

Halloween

      In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, on Halloween night, 1963, a young boy brutally stabs and kills his sister . After being institutionalized for fifteen years, he escapes and returns to Haddonfield, armed with one spooky mask and a large knife.  Sam Loomis, his doctor, is on the hunt to find him before he kills again. 

     What is there left to say about John Carpenter's "Halloween" that hasn't already been said?  This was the movie that made me the horror fan I am today, on top of scaring the hell out of my 9 year old self. And it's still one of my all-time favorite movies of any genre.  "Halloween" is one of the most famous and influential horror films in history.  For what little budget they had, John Carpenter and  Debra Hill made an extremely effective, but completely independent and low budget movie that until 1999's "The Blair Witch Project" was the single highest-grossing independent movie of all time- and scared the pants off an entire generation of movie-goers while doing so.  Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter became household names and Michael Myers became an icon of terror.

     Carpenter's original Michael Myers is so scary because he gives us no back story whatsoever.  All we know is some guy in a really creepy mask is stalking babysitters on Halloween night in a midwestern small town. That's it. It's so blatantly simple. And scary. "Halloween" scares us on a psychological level.  John Carpenter never really gives us a full, good look at Michael Myers really until the last 20 minutes or so.  Like the shark in "JAWS", we hardly ever see him. Only fleetingly, here and there.  He's always silently lurking off to the side, or in the shadows.  We are forced to use our imaginations while watching "Halloween".  John Carpenter expertly strings us along- tensing us up one minute, then allowing us to relax the next.  Then taking us off guard, Michael strikes.

     "Halloween" instantly takes us back to childhood, and how scary childhood could be.  What was that noise outside my window?  What was that shadow?  We all know what it's like to be home alone.  Or the boogeyman in our closet.  Just the word "babysitter" alone used to strike terror in the hearts of many children around the world.  Somehow, you were never as safe as you were with your parents home.  Especially on Halloween night.  "Halloween" personifies everything that scares us, then and now, and does exactly what it was meant to do to us- frighten us to death.  It's so frightening because we relate to it- it's every small town we all grew up in.  From that horrifying opening POV shot to that last, blood-freezing frame, we're mercilessly at the hand of the director- and he knows it.  Carpenter's use of light and shadow, color and darkness, plus that unforgettable music combine to make horror history.

     It's a bona-fide classic that inspired a million knock-offs and changed horror forever.  "Halloween" was no product of Hollywood studios.  This was an organic labor of love by a bunch of twenty year olds making a low-budget, independent movie for about $300,000 because they were passionate about it.  It was truly fresh and inventive, and there's a reason why it was so successful.  John Carpenter and Debra Hill joined creative forces, went against the grain, and came up with a classic horror film that will be remembered forever.  And "Halloween" has probably the most famous score ever for a horror film, besides "JAWS".  Kudos to "Black Christmas" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" for laying the groundwork, and for John Carpenter, who, inspired by it, created and unleashed a horror masterpiece.

A Nightmare On Elm Street

How scary was A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET when it was released way back in 1984? Extremely. Chock full of terrifying imagery and memorable moments galore, ELM STREET tells the story of Nancy (perfectly played by Heather Langenkamp). Things start to get weird when she finds out her friends are having the exact same dreams...

     This shocking slasher about a horribly burned madman who stalks teens in their dreams became a sensation upon its release, and made an instant horror icon out of Robert Englund, who so terrifyingly brought Freddy Krueger to life. 

    Freddy Krueger has become such an over-saturated character that it's almost hard to remember just how scary he truly was the first time we saw him back in 1984. The original A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET is most definitely a classic horror film, and Freddy Krueger is easily one of the most popular villains in cinema history, part of the Holy Trinity of Terror alongside Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. And Freddy, like any other movie monster, was eventually milked to death and became a cackling comedian in the latter sequels, and he became less and less frightening. But you cannot go wrong with the original, the classic.

What makes the original ELM STREET so scary is that we hardly see Freddy in the movie- like JAWS,  Freddy is wisely kept in the dark through most of the film. We get glimpses here and there- his hands, his hat, his sweater. Just enough to freak us the hell out. 

       Wes Craven did a great job of capturing that certain small, mid-western teenage vibe, like John Carpenter brilliantly achieved in HALLOWEEN. Craven chillingly depicts a nightmare world inhabited by the evil Krueger, which would haunt many a movie-goer's dreams back in the day. The film is visually stunning for a low budget production- it's filmed almost hallucinogenic and surreal,which makes the nightmare scenes so memorable. It's truly an original premise, and it was very influential in horror.  

     But it really should have stopped after this one or the second installment. If Freddy could only be remembered for the original terrifying performance he gave in 1984, instead of the family-friendly comedian he became. It's one of the best to come out of the 80's, and it was seriously scary stuff for 1984. I was 12 years old and petrified watching this. And yes, this was the film premiere of a certain actor named Johnny Depp.

The Slumber Party Massacre

      I absolutely adore THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE.  I find it hilarious, actually. There is a delicious wit running through every minute of this slasher flick, and it's one of my favorites of the decade. Although we're presented with possibly the least frightening killer ever put on celluloid- he's laughable all the way, and maybe it's just me, but I insist on my psychopaths wearing a mask. Why is this?  I mean, if somebody is coming after you with a knife, no matter what they're wearing, it's probably going to be pretty scary, right? Right. But i prefer my slasher to be sportin' a mask.

     There are exceptions, of course. Pamela Voorhees didn't wear a mask, and she was certainly scary enough on her own. HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE offers a killer without a mask, and it works for the most part. EYES OF A STRANGER has a killer without a mask. No sweat. But c'mon- would HALLOWEEN have been near as scary if Michael Myers was just a regular guy walking around?  I think not. Would Leatherface have caused as many nightmares as he did if he didn't walk around wearing other people's faces? Doubt it. I'm just saying.

     THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE came about during that magical time period otherwise known as the early 80's. In 1982, the slasher genre was going full-tilt boogie, and it seemed there was a new madman stalking teens just about every weekend of that year in theaters. TSPM features the barest whiff of a plot- while the parents are away, a bunch of girls throw a slumber party. And there's an escaped lunatic running around with a power drill with a very large bit attached (I'm not even going into the whole phallic imagery bit- it's been discussed to death already...) and killing people. That's pretty much it. Simple, yet effective. We didn't need no stinkin' plots back then- we just wanted to see Jordache-wearing teens being slaughtered for whatever reason.

     There are so many things I love about this movie, but mainly- I love the humor found here.  There is some genuinely funny comedic dialogue running through THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE- so much that I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. I love that the girls in this movie look at least 30 years old, while the boys could easily pass for 18. The somewhat-butch young girl obsessed with "PLAYGIRL" magazines is quite hilarious, and you gotta love the gay next-door neighbor asked to look after the girls while their parents are away. Is this movie cleverly spoofing the slasher films of the era? Is the humor intentional or unintentional?  There is almost a sly, winking vibe to this movie, and I really dig it. This is high camp all the way, kiddos.

      THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE has developed a strong following over the years, and remains a definite guilty pleasure. Great fun all the way, and highly recommended.

   

Christine

     An awkward, shy high-schooler buys a delapidated 1958 Plymouth Fury and soon finds himself completely and totally under its spell.  The car, born on a Detriot assembly line, is no ordinary car.  Deep within lives an evil, indestructible vengeance that will destroy anybody who gets in her way...

     There's something fascinating about "Christine"-I'm including both novel and film here.   Of all his books, "Christine" is criminally underrated, especially the ones from his golden years, and upon recently revisiting the book, I still find it to be one of his best.  King takes an unlikely and somewhat silly premise and makes it totally chilling and believable.  As for the movie, John Carpenter did a fantastic job translating it to the big screen.  Carpenter's work is always either hit or miss- and when he hits, it's a home run ("Halloween", "The Fog", "The Thing"...).  "Christine" most definitely falls into the 'hit' category.

     Starting the movie with a sharply compelling look at teenage life in the late 70's,  the movie soon takes a much darker turn as Arnie Cunningham stumbles across the rusty dinosaur that is Christine.  He immediately becomes hellbent on fixing the car up, his own personality making a frightening metamorphosis in the process.  Carpenter has assembled a great cast of actors here, and working from a great script, the movie comes off as far more mature than your average teenage horror film.  The acting is pretty damn good, especially Keith Gordon.  His Arnie is completely believable, and his intimate scenes with the car are honestly frightening.  Watching his transformation from lonely nerd to stud is a tense and creepy process.

      John Stockwell, apart from being great eye-candy and a likable hero, also delivers a strong performance as Arnie's best friend Dennis.  Alexandra Paul adds a dose of camp to the mix, and we're treated to a slew of great cameos- including Harry Dean Stanton, Robert Proskey, and Roberts Blossom.  "Christine" made a huge impact on me back in the day, and it hasn't aged one bit- everything still rings true and holds up just fine today..  And you will never forget the scenes with Christine mercilessly going after the bullies who taunt Arnie, especially the haunting shot of Christine silently gliding down a dark highway in flames.  It's an unforgettable scene, and a truly chilling one.

     Shot during a time when graphic and violent death scenes were extremely popular, "Christine" defied the current trend and managed to be scary without throwing a bunch of blood and guts at us.  With slick, polished cinematography, an awesomely spooky Carpenter score, and a jukebox worth of classic 50's oldies (which highly adds to the overall effect and makes the songs themselves spooky...), "Christine" is a great but lost movie from the magical 80's.  Silly?  Sure.  Let's be honest.  But an oh-so-satisfying revenge flick nonetheless!  Hands down the best "killer car" movie of all time- yet it's also a much more deep look at isolation and the agonies of the teenage years.  Like I said, I think this movie is vastly underrated.  

     Carpenter was definitely in "on" mode with this one- his direction mixed with the cinematography of Donald M. Morgan (which makes great use of the widescreen photography) certainly helps the movie. "Christine" is a completely different kind of horror movie- movies like this don't come along very often.  It's not out to gross us out- there's really only a smidge of blood in the whole movie.  It's more of an eerie little movie.  "Christine" is a great story to begin with.  Let's be real.  I don't honestly see how it could have been brought to life any better- besides a couple of scenes here and there that were cut from the story, for whatever reasons.  I think Carpenter and team did a pretty respectable job bringing King's book to life.  This is John Carpenter at his peak- and his last great effort, in my humble opinion, after the magnificent "The Thing".  This movie deserves the deluxe DVD treatment- hopefully one day we'll see one.  And the book it's based on is an amazingly rich read- it was one of the first King books I ever read, and is still one of my favorites.  I highly recommend taking a ride in Stephen King's lean, mean killing machine.