Category: Retrospective

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Special Guest Review of the CHILD’S PLAY Series, Part 2

By Frank Pittarese

Bride of Chucky (1998) After three movies with the same basic plot, this one takes the series in a (mostly) new direction. Charles Lee Ray’s lunatic girlfriend (played by Jennifer Tilly) gets hold of Chucky’s remains and magically resurrects the little maniac. But when she pisses him off, he kills her and transfers her soul into a bride doll. The plastic pair manipulate and eventually terrorize a couple of runaway teens, with the intention of digging up Charles Lee Ray’s body to retrieve a magical amulet. That amulet, which supposedly would let them transfer their souls into the teens, is a total retcon. It was never mentioned before now, and a crime scene photo here shows Ray wearing it when he died. Nope. Didn’t happen. I checked the footage. But okay, okay…whatever works.

While the body-swap is still central to the plot in a minor way, this really is a breath of fresh air. First off, it’s a lot more comedic than what we’ve seen so far. It owns the fact that the premise is ridiculous, and leans hard into the absurdity of the situation. Tiffany makes an excellent partner for Chucky. He finally has someone to play off of — someone who isn’t a child — and she’s strangely sympathetic, at times. They mayhem is endless, the teens (Katherine Heigl and Nick Stabile) are likable enough, there’s a gay kid who isn’t at all cartoonish, and John Ritter makes an appearance as an overbearing uncle. The kills are clever, but the most over-the-top moments are the sex scene — between the dolls — and the ending, which is a real jaw-dropper. Chucky is back on track. For now. Grade: A-

Seed of Chucky (2004) Six years after Tiffany gave birth (yep, that’s what I said), we catch up with the kid, Glen, living a life of captivity in England as part of a ventriloquist act. Meanwhile, Chucky and Tiffany — now just normal dolls — are being used as props in a Hollywood feature film about their murder spree. When Glen sees their parents on TV, they head to America and — using that bullshit amulet invented in the previous movie — restores their evil souls to their doll bodies. And if that’s not complicated enough, the Chuck & Tiff want to use actress Jennifer Tilly (who plays herself in this one, as well as providing the voice of Tiffany) to birth ANOTHER baby, and transfer their souls into the bodies of her and her chauffeur. My head is spinning and I just watched the damn thing.

Any gains made in Bride of Chucky are lost here. The slasher element is still in play, but the comedy is what drives this one, and almost all of it feels tortured (if not straight up vulgar; I could live without seeing Chucky whack off). The body-swap aspect of the series has become exhausting. With Bride, they had the chance to do something else and they alllllmost succeeded, but here we go again.

Glen (sometimes Glenda) is an interesting character, though. The child of Chucky and Tiffany is non-binary, which is pretty progressive in 2004. While they play it for laughs, but only to a degree (and most of the wisecracks come from Chucky), it’s still an interesting choice. But Glen’s design is hideous. They look like the mutant offspring of Chucky and Annabelle. Jennifer Tilly, bless her heart, is really committed to this insanity, and I guess the concept was nutty enough to attract the likes of John Waters, who plays a sleazy photographer. But as much as I want to like this one, it’s a rough ride. Grade: C

Curse of Chucky (2013) Soon after a Good Guys doll arrives at the Pierce household, the matriarch of the family dies under mysterious circumstances. Chucky circumstances. Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif, daughter of Brad Dourif — the voice of Chucky), paralyzed since birth, plays host as her sister —  with family and nanny in tow — arrives to reminisce and bicker about money. Things seem normal, except for that creepy doll. And why is Charles Lee Ray in the family’s home movies? Let the murders begin!

After the sloppy misstep of Seed, the franchise returns to proper horror-mode. With a gothic vibe and a slower, more deliberate pace, Curse hits all the right notes. Chucky is used minimally for maximum effect, and while he still spouts the occasional wisecrack, this one plays things straight. It’s a huge relief.

One small problem: the unrated cut has a post-credits scene that not only features a major callback to the early films, it literally sets up the next movie in the series. But that version isn’t in the DVD boxed set and it’s not the one streaming on Peacock, so missing that short scene feels like you’ve missed a chapter. It’s a cool bit (which I’m gonna spoil in the next review). Grade: A-

Cult of Chucky (2017) Oof! This franchise is a roller coaster. After the tight creep-fest of Curse, the final entry in the series is a dreary pile of poo. Four years after the last movie, adult Andy Barclay passes the time by torturing Chucky’s severed head. Meanwhile, Nica Pierce is in a mental hospital, having been blamed for her family’s murders. Nica is so screwed up that she even blames herself. Then a Chucky doll arrives at the hospital, courtesy of Jennifer Tilly (still possessed by Tiffany), and a second doll soon follows, along with death and mayhem — all while Andy still seems to have custody of Chucky himself. What’s real? Who’s crazy? Who cares?

This muddled, lethargic mess is a frustrating watch. It’s hard to tell what’s real, and it’s even more difficult to get invested. They seem to be going for a Dream Warriors vibe in featuring a handful of mental patients, but they’re all unpleasant and annoying. Nica is a morose lump. The promise of Andy, which came with the previous film’s post-credits scene (and the opening of this one) feels unfulfilled, as he’s reduced to a subplot until the final act. Answers do come, and the multiple Chuckys (the titular “cult”) are explained (in an offhand way), but by that point, things are completely off the rails and still confusing. The ending sets up another chapter, and is legitimately intriguing…but this one could have been a thousand times better. Hopefully, the TV series will get things back on course. When this franchise is good, it’s great, but when it’s bad, it’s a disaster. This one is bad.

BTW, this sequel also features a post-credits scene which also only exists in the unrated cut — which also features another returning character. The bottom line is: Always go with the unrated cut. With everything. Grade: D-

Make sure you read Part 1 if you missed it!

Please follow Frank Pittarese on Twitter and Instagram.

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Special Guest Review of the CHILD’S PLAY Series, Part 1

By Frank Pittarese

Child’s Play (1988) Serial killer Charles Lee Ray (a.k.a. the Lakeshore Strangler) is shot in a toy store by a detective — but before dying, he transfers his soul into a Good Guys doll using a voodoo spell. The doll makes its way to the home of little Andy Barclay and within 15 minutes, Chucky begins a spree of murder and terror. And of course, nobody believes Andy when he blames his doll. This is the best of the series. The cast is great. The endearing Catherine Hicks plays Andy’s frantic mom, Chris Sarandon is a disbelieving detective (until he learns otherwise), and Alex Vincent plays six-year-old Andy. As far as child actors go, Vincent isn’t show-bizzy at all. Some of his line deliveries are rough, but he feels like a real kid (and sort of a dumb one at that). It becomes very easy to worry about the squirt as danger unfolds.

This movie was made long before CGI was a thing, and a team of nine puppeteers, child actors, and little people bring Chucky to glorious life. Brad Dourif provides Chucky’s voice (and still does) but here’s a bit of trivia: Chucky was originally voiced by Jessica Walter(!), who was replaced after the movie bombed in a test screening (30 minutes of footage was also cut). This series has its ups and downs (more of the latter, I guess), and it perpetually goes off the rails as the series becomes more “comedic,” but Chucky is such a little asshole that I can’t help but love him, so I’m a fan. Grade: A-

Child’s Play 2 (1990) In the aftermath of the first movie, Andy’s mom is under psychiatric observation (we never see her again) and Andy is in foster care. Meanwhile, the Play Pals Corporation rebuilds Chucky, and he promptly runs amok, going on a murder spree as he tries to get hold of Andy. This is a decent sequel, but they’re already slipping into repetition. Expect another round of “Chucky did it!” as Andy gets blamed (again) for Chucky’s crimes. Christine Elise (Emily Valentine on Beverly Hills 90210) adds some flavor as Kyle, a teenage foster kid and ally to Andy, but it’s mostly a by-the-numbers slasher movie. The real highlight here is the showdown in a toy factory, as Andy and Kyle not only try to survive Chucky, but avoid the deadly doll-making machinery. It’s a strong set piece/climax that really saves an average movie. Grade: B

Child’s Play 3 (1991) Eight years after the last movie, the Play Pals Corporation is back in business — and thanks to blood dripping into a vat of plastic, Chucky is reborn. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Andy Barclay has been shipped off to a military academy after flunking out of foster care. Once again, Chucky pursues Andy, desperate for a human body. But there’s a new kid on the scene, played by THE MOST ANNOYING CHILD ACTOR EVER, and Chucky decides he wants an upgrade.

Three movies in and this franchise is on shaky ground. This is the third time we’re seeing the same basic story — and while that worked for almost a dozen Friday the 13th and a whole bunch of Elm Streets, this premise doesn’t have as much…range? By tying Chucky so tightly to Andy, the story has nowhere to go. So again, Chucky commits acts of mayhem and ruins Andy’s life. Again, Chucky chants his little body-swapping spell. And it’s all a drag this time because the setting is so awful. Asshole characters abound (including a ridiculously cartoonish barber played by Hellraiser’s Andrew Robinson), and the sympathetic ones are dull at best, but really sort of annoying. It’s not unwatchable, it’s just mediocre. Except for THE MOST ANNOYING CHILD ACTOR EVER. He is unwatchable. The franchise needs a hard kick in the ass, and for better or worse, that kick is coming… Grade: C+

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Child’s Play reviews!

Please follow Frank Pittarese on Instagram and Twitter.

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My 10 Favorite Horror Films of the 2010s

Since a new decade is up and running, I wanted to look back and discuss what I think are ten amazing horror movies from the past ten years. I’m not saying these are the best; I’m just saying these are ten movies I love and deserve a mention. Have fun reading, and if you haven’t seen this films yet, please seek them out and watch them! You won’t be disappointed!

10. World War Z (2013) The best zombie movie since 28 Days Later. An adaptation of Max Brook’s popular book was always going to be scrutinized by fans no matter how good it turned out. Luckily, Marc Forster’s $100 million-plus movie version is a crackerjack thrill ride from beginning to end, and, dare I say, better than Brook’s overrated novel. Brad Pitt is fine in the role of Gerry Lane – although, honestly, the role could have been filled by any competent actor – but it’s Forster’s aggressive, frenzied direction that creates scenes of incredible suspense and makes the movie work so well.

9. V/H/S 2 (2013) This cinematic roller coaster ride is the best anthology movie in years. Fast-paced, funny, and scary, V/H/S 2 delivers five stories that are all successfully thrilling, but two stand out as mini-classics. “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” features a small group of kids besieged by a horde of space visitors during a sleepover (flashes of The McPherson Tape come into play), and “Safe Haven,” which follows a film crew as they descend into (literal) hell while investigating a mysterious Indonesian cult, is itself is a near-masterpiece in grueling horror.

8. Willow Creek (2013) Bobcat Goldthwait’s suspenseful, slow burn creep-out is probably the closest a found footage movie has come to replicating the claustrophobic dread of The Blair Witch Project. The premise is simple yet effective: a young couple (Bryce Johnson and Alexie Gilmore) venture into the wild terrains of Northern California to find evidence of Bigfoot only to get in over their heads when fiction turns into reality. Goldthwait understands how POV horror works at its best and utilizes this by slowly building the tension with sound effects, suggestion, and imagination. It all culminates in a hold-your-breath ending.

7. The Witch (2015) An atmosphere-drenched 17th century setting elevates this minimalist supernatural chiller above most other ilk, as does powerful acting and a genuinely creepy environment. The dark, bleak woods of Ontario, Canada, create a surreal world of shadows and mystery, conjuring up more powerful imagery than most of 2015’s horror movies combined. And who can forget Black Phillip, perhaps the cleverest manifestation of evil depicted on screen in years?

6. Midsommar (2019) Never has a movie awash in such bright sunshine been so claustrophobically intense. Director Ari Aster followed up Hereditary with a wild road trip of sheer, raw, emotional suspense – not only delivering a daring horror story, but telling a powerful tale of mental illness. The film’s robust two-and-a-half hour runtime seems daunting, but Aster wisely fills the time with a build-up of dread, leading to a powerhouse climax that will feel like a gut-punch.

5. The Conjuring (2013) James Wan moved past his torture porn legacy in the Saw series by setting his sights on old-fashioned ghostly antics, following up the brilliant Insidious with this instantly iconic supernatural shocker. Wan took the haunted house subgenre and turned it on its head, making it feel as alive and fresh as Poltergeist did when it was released in 1982. The Conjuring was so successful that it launched its own cinematic universe (including the terrific Annabelle: Creation) and made international stars out of real-life ghost hunters Ed and Lorraine Warren, portrayed wonderfully by Patrick Wilson and Vera Famiga.

4. Sinister (2012) Future Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson returned to the world of horror after directing The Exorcism of Emily Rose in 2005 with this bleak tale that involves snuff movies and the ghosts of murdered children. A roller coaster ride from beginning to end, Sinister contains some of the creepiest, and scariest, moments in a horror film since The Blair Witch Project.

3. A Quiet Place (2018) One of the more original horror movies of the last ten years, A Quiet Place reminds me of the classic thrillers of Hitchcock, and proves just how powerful misdirection and suspense can be. Director/writer John Krasinski, with fellow writers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck, wisely avoid a world-view disaster-type of scenario and instead focus on a family’s fight for survival against a species of ferocious, hearing-enhanced predators. The film’s intimate setting heightens both the scares and the emotional impact.

2. Insidious (2011) The second James Wan film on my list, Insidious is perhaps his finest hour since Saw. A literal funhouse of a movie, filled to the brim with creativity, classic storytelling, and good, old-fashioned scares, Insidious is the ultimate modern haunted house chiller. Wan elevates a familiar scenario by infusing it with colorful characters, witty writing, and a rich, otherworldly atmosphere that drenches the movie in a mist of frightening, yet playful, images.

1. Hereditary (2018) Before 2018 nobody had heard of filmmaker Ari Aster, but that all changed after the release of this spellbinding, nerve-shredding venture into hardcore horror. The brilliance of the film is how Aster keeps the plot moving with unpredictability, perfectly weaving a web of mystery, terror, and mythology – juxtaposed against brutally painful family drama – right up until the shock ending. Toni Collette, as the family matriarch, delivers a compelling, emotionally-draining performance that, quite frankly, puts most actors to shame. A horror film that gets under your skin, and that deserves to be on the same shelf as The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, and Psycho.

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The SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT Saga

This post contains spoilers!

Slayride

The early 1980s were a great time for the movies, especially horror, specifically the slasher. The successes of Halloween and Friday the 13th opened the floodgates for independent filmmakers to make movies on the cheap with a guaranteed profit, especially if they supplied the audience with their growing appetite for on-screen splatter. 

One of the more infamous slashers of that era was Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s cheerfully sleazy Silent Night, Deadly Night. Originally called Slayride, the flick opens on Christmas Eve, 1971, as a young mother (Tara Buckman) and father (Geoff Hanson) drive their small children to see crazy old Grandpa (Will Hare), who’s living at a remote mental health facility. It’s here that young Billy (Danny Wagner) is told by the old coot that Santa Claus punishes kids who are naughty, forming a distorted view of Santa in Billy’s mind. Hours later and Billy watches as Mom and Dad are murdered by a degenerate in a Santa costume. 

Billy and his younger brother, Ricky, are sent to live at an orphanage ruled over by the strict Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin), who (naturally) reinforces the “punishment” method, sending Billy into an unhinged mental state throughout his childhood. By the age of 18, Billy (Robert Brian Wilson), now a hotbed of sexual anxiety and explosive violence, gets a job at a toy store and, come Christmas, is asked to step into a Santa outfit.

Billy’s mental state eventually collapses and, with axe in hand, he runs around on Christmas Eve night punishing the local residents. Those on Billy’s naughty list include a rapist, some street bullies, and two fornicating teenagers, one of whom (Linnea Quigley) gets impaled on the antlers of a mounted deer head in one of the movie’s most notorious gore scenes.

Released in November of 1984, SNDN was the target of angry parent protests. Thanks to its super effective marketing campaign – I still remember as a kid seeing the old VHS cover of the axe-wielding Santa sliding down a snow-covered chimney – SNDN was put in the spotlight for essentially doing a good job at (literally) scaring people. But, instead of parents telling their children it’s only a movie, they decided to protest the film over its depiction of a killer Santa. I guess they had never seen Tales from the Crypt (1972), or Christmas Evil (1980).

The protests were so successful that SNDN‘s distributors removed the movie from theaters before the Thanksgiving holiday, but not before it pulled in brisk box-office. Although re-released in the spring of 1985 after the panic had subsided, the movie didn’t find its audience until it hit video stores, and by 1987 its cult status garnered it a sequel. Grade: A–

Garbage Day!

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 opens at an undisclosed location, in a plain, white room where an adult Ricky (Eric Freeman) is being interviewed by a psychiatrist (James L. Newman). A title card informs us that it’s Dec. 24, foreshadowing later events of Ricky killing the shrink, escaping the room, and seeking revenge on Mother Superior. But, I’m getting ahead of myself…

Ricky is being interview not only about his serial killer brother, Billy, but about Ricky’s own psychopathic personality. The whole plot of Part 2 is essentially told in flashbacks (with nearly 30 minutes of footage from the first movie!) as Ricky recounts not only Billy’s murder spree from Part 1, but his own hand in bloody murder in the years after Ricky left the orphanage.

SNDN Part 2 is not loved within the horror community. Many consider it the ultimate bad sequel. It suffers from a sluggish pacing (after Part 1’s flashbacks, nothing new actually happens until 40 minutes into the movie), inconsistent casting (Ricky at 17, played by Darrel Guilbeau, looks completely different, and actually older, than Ricky at 18), and its psychoanalysis of Ricky’s motives for killing comes off as sloppy and ham-fisted. Ricky kills simply because the script (by director Lee Harry and Joseph E. Earle) calls for him to do so, and in very OTT fashion. And despite Harry’s attempts at making the movie more lighthearted (as mentioned in the behind-the-scenes segment from Shout! Factory‘s Blu-ray release), Part 2 is more mean-spirited than the first movie ever was, although a few instances of black humor help.

Also, what happened to Mother Superior’s (Jean Miller) accent, and why does she have a gigantic, blistering scar on the side of her face?! Grade: C+

Better Watch Out!

Like many low-budget sequels in the late ’80s, Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out went directly to the video market in 1989. And like many horror films of that era, this one seems to have been somewhat influenced by the Nightmare on Elm Street series.

The film features a young woman named Laura (Samantha Scully), who’s blind and psychic, and who’s being used by a sinister doctor (Richard Beymer – who goes around muttering lines like, “There are no innocent people…”) to communicate with Ricky (Bill Moseley), now comatose six years after Part 2. Participating in these experiments gives Laura the ability to enter Ricky’s dreams, and we, the audience, get even more flashbacks to the first movie.

Clad in hospital gown and with a plastic dome covering his exposed brain, Ricky awakens from his coma and, now sharing a psychic link with Laura, follows her and her brother, Chris (Eric DaRe), to her grandmother’s on Christmas Eve. Much like Laura, Grannie (Elizabeth Hoffman) also has psychic abilities, but doesn’t seem to foresee Ricky’s arrival as dangerous, instead offering him food and shelter. He still kills her.

The mostly mute Ricky now seems to have some sort of supernatural, superhuman strength as he goes around punching through doors and overpowering anyone he comes into contact with. And much like Jason in his later years, Ricky can predict people’s whereabouts, a horror movie trope that eventually became massively overused.

Stiff direction by Monte Hellman and a dead-serious tone – most of the likable characters are needlessly killed off – make SNDN 3 a bummer. Grade: C

Initiation

For the fourth entry in the series, the producers decided to drop the Ricky-killer Santa angle and made a stand-alone story. Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation offers a supernatural tale of witchcraft in modern day Los Angeles. The ambitious plot tackles lesbianism, self-empowerment, and women’s rights (or a lack thereof) within the male-dominated world of newspaper journalism.

Looking to make a break at the weekly newspaper she works for, struggling writer, Kim (Neith Hunter), investigates the bizarre suicide of a woman, whom her male coworkers dismiss as unimportant. Kim soon discovers the victim was part of an all-female secret society that worships the Biblical Adam’s first wife, Lilith. This cult is lead by feminist bookstore owner, Fima (two-time Bond girl Maude Adams), who immediately takes a liking to Kim (never a good sign!). It isn’t long until Fima sinks her fangs into Kim and eventually recruits her into their society of wine, slime, and giant bugs.

Directed by Brian Yuzna (Bride of Re-Animator), Initiation gets points for trying something different with the series and for its semi-serious look at new age feminism. But the screenplay (by Yuzna and four other writers) never truly makes sense and is, at times, a bit too cartoonish with its woman-as-hooker-or-mother metaphor. Character dynamics are also a bit muddled: Kim flip-flops too much between being a strong, vocally expressive character and a whimpering victim.

That said, Initiation is one the better of the SNDN sequels and features some terrifically gross Screaming Mad George (Nightmare on Elm Street 4) make-up FX and a scene that may make you think twice the next time you sit down to a plate of spaghetti. Grade: B

The Toy Maker

Written and directed by Martin Kitrosser (Friday the 13th Part III and Part V), Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (released direct-to-video in 1991) features a plot so obviously perfect for a Christmas-themed horror flick it’s surprising it hadn’t been done before.

Traumatized after witnessing his father’s death by a malevolent toy that was mysteriously delivered to his house, young Derek (William Thorne) follows in the footsteps of Halloween 5‘s Jamie Lloyd by losing his ability to speak. His mother, Sarah (Jane Higginson), is warned by her ex-lover (Noah Adams) that the local toy maker, named Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney), is making toys that kill their child owners. The switch is that it’s actually Joe’s robot son, Pino (Brian Bremer), who’s behind the evil creations, and if you haven’t figured out the Pinocchio references yet…

Co-written by Yuzna, The Toy Maker isn’t going to win any awards for writing or deep character development, but it’s probably the best of the SNDN sequels. It’s well-paced, features mostly likable characters, and is surprisingly self-aware – the character of Kim (Hunter) from Initiation lives next door to Sarah, and Sarah works for Live Entertainment, one of the distributors of SNDN 5. The movie also has a welcoming sense of humor after the dead serious tones of the previous few flicks in the franchise. Grade: B

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THE OMEN is a classic horror film. The sequels, not so much.

Warning: This post contains spoilers!

The Omen is a good example of a terrific stand-alone movie that was forcibly serialized in the hopes of making money. When 20th Century Fox released the first Omen film on June 6, 1976 to unexpected critical and commercial success, the studio most likely saw potential for a franchise goldmine.

The Omen is a classic horror film, and quite frankly there really isn’t much to be said on the matter. Coming right at the tail end of the popularity in devil/possession movies, The Omen could have been yet another head-spinning, vomit-throwing, Exorcist wannabe. Instead it turned out to be a breath of fresh air, an exciting film that — while borrowing elements from Rosemary’s Baby and other supernatural horror movies — held its own as a true original.

While the success of The Exorcist let loose a wave of imitations, so did The Omen, including the 1977 Antichrist Kirk Douglas melodrama Holocaust 2,000. And like Exorcist, The Omen got its own sequel. Well, three sequels, actually!

Whereas The Omen feels fresh and exciting, Damien: Omen II (1978) feels old fashion, and often meandering. After archeologist Bugenhagen (Leo McKern), the man who informed Gregory Peck of the daggers, learns of Damien’s survival after the events of the first film, he along with a friend is killed. Seven years later, Damien (Jonathan Scott-Taylor), now 13, is living with his clueless uncle (William Holden) and aunt (Lee Grant) in Chicago and attending military school where he’s watched over by the sinister Sergeant Neff (Lance Henriksen).

Whereas Peck and Lee Remick (as Damien’s mother) felt personable and likable in the first movie, Holden and Grant come off as unsympathetic and cold. A reason for this becomes clear during the last several minutes of the film (secrets revealed!) for at least one of the characters. Henriksen is wasted in a small role that amounts to no more than a convenient plot point.

Omen II also suffers from laziness. A sequel about Damien reaching pubescence and coming into his own should really give us full-throttle spectacle, a sort of male version of Carrie, if you will. The filmmakers were most likely trying to avoid sensationalism in that regard, but in doing so really shot themselves in the foot. Director Don Taylor (also once an actor – Stalag 17) gives the film a feel of stoicism, the opposite of Donner’s fast-paced direction; Omen II is so grounded in its soap opera stuffiness that it forgets to just have fun.

Then we come to The Final Conflict (1981), which at the time was planned as the closing of the Omen trilogy.

Now in his early 30s and CEO of Thorne Industries, Damien (Sam Neill) becomes appointed by POTUS as the new US Ambassador of Great Britain after the previous one commits suicide. Meanwhile, a sect of priests from first film’s Italian monastery is hot on Damien’s heels. Their plan is to execute Damien before he can thwart the second coming of Christ. Damien’s plan, though, is to murder every male infant born in Britain on the morning of March 24th of that year — the same morning in which a constellation generates the “second star of Bethlehem.” Yeah, I really didn’t get it, either.

Final Conflict looks great (the cinematography by Phil Meheux and Robert Paynter is gorgeous), and there’s no question Neill has great fun in the role of Damien; the screenplay (by Andrew Birkin) gives Damien a few juicy moments. But much like Omen II, Final Conflict doesn’t deliver the goods. It’s almost as if the filmmakers forgot they were making a movie about the Antichrist! Also, by this point in the series the “creative deaths” have been all but erased from the show.

The film attempts to sell a pointless rape as an example of Damien’s evil nature, but the scene really comes off as tasteless and sleazy. It’s made even more tacky when Damien, while sodomizing his girlfriend (Lisa Harrow), mutters something about life being pain, or some such nonsense. Wouldn’t the son of Satan have better things to do?

The series also seems to have forgotten its own rules. In the first film Bugenhagen tells Thorne (Peck) that all seven daggers must be used in order to kill Damien. Harrow stabs Damien with one dagger and he still dies. Poof. OK, bye!

In closing, The Omen is a wonderfully fun and inventive piece of 70’s cinema that was needlessly followed by underwhelming sequels. The remake from 2006 managed to capture some of the energy from the ’76 film but could not measure up at the end. I think The Omen was a movie of its time and part of that era’s culture, which can’t be replicated.

The Omen saga is now available from Shout! Factory in a deluxe Blu-ray. box set. The series, as well as the remake, are currently streaming on Hulu.

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BLOOD RAGE: A Thanksgiving Slasher Classic

It’s not cranberry sauce!

There were some horror films released in the decadent 1980s that were so quintessential of their era they can’t be replicated in any shape, way, or form. John Grissmer’s 1987 splatter classic, Blood Rage, is one of those movies, a slasher flick that’s dripping in early ’80’s fashions, sensibilities, and outrageousness.

The movie opens in 1974, Jacksonville, Florida, at a drive-in showing a movie called The House That Cried Murder. Parked in a station wagon is single mom Maddy (Louise Lasser) on a date with what looks like a much younger man. Packed in the back (or along for the ride) are her twin boys, Todd and Terry (Russell and Keith Hall). While Maddy makes out with her date, Todd and Terry sneak out of the car and before you can say foreshadowing, psychopathic Terry steals a hatchet out of the back of a pick-up, kills a poor schmuck in his car, and frames Todd for the murder.

Flash forward ten years later and poor, innocent Todd (Mark Soper) is living in a mental health facility while Terry (also Soper), a college student, is spending Thanksgiving with Maddy and her fiancé (James Farrell) at the Shadow Woods apartment complex. As the family sits down for turkey dinner, they’re informed that Todd has escaped from the hospital. This news causes Terry to malfunction and go on a killing spree, once again framing Todd for his horrific crimes

Filmed as Slasher (and released in some territories as Nightmare at Shadow Woods) in and around Jacksonville, FL, in late 1983, Blood Rage is a no-holds-barred, unashamed gorefest. It’s a movie that doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: a fun, spirited splatter epic, overloaded with hammy acting, feathered hair, a pumping synthesizer score, and some terrifically gruesome murder set pieces created by Ed French (Sleepaway Camp).

One of the reasons Blood Rage works so splendidly is because it doesn’t go the mystery-killer route like 90% of the slashers of the ’80s. Instead it tells us who the killer is (young Terry) within the first five minutes, because the movie isn’t about figuring out who is doing the slashing. It’s about the slashing. In one way, Blood Rage is an unconscious satire on slashers in general, and in another, it has the look and feel of an H.G. Lewis flick

Blood Rage has within recently years been certified a cult classic. From Arrow Video‘s wonderful Blu-ray release, to multiple Terry-inspired t-shirts and pins, Blood Rage has successfully, and deservedly, branded itself into the 80’s horror zeitgeist.

From its synth-pop-pounding opening, to Terry’s memorable one-liners (“That’s not cranberry sauce, Artie!”), to the surprise, downbeat ending, Blood Rage is in a class of its own, and one of the few horror movies that take place at Thanksgiving. Unabashedly zany and cheerfully sadistic, it’s a classic of its time period, and despite having been filmed in the early part of the decade is an example of OTT late ’80s excess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnUIVHM4F-M