SCREAM(1996) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Rose McGowan, Jamie Kennedy, Drew Barrymore.Scream is the movie that revived the horror genre at a time when it had stalled with endless direct-to-video sequels. This smart little flick was a love letter to the fans that grew up on ’80s horror, and wisely injected its knowledge of the era into its story. When a teenager (Barrymore) and her boyfriend are viciously slaughtered, a small town is plunged into panic as a masked killer begins picking off high schoolers who all had a connection to the first victims. Does final girl, Sidney (Campbell), and her traumatic past have anything to do with the crimes? Both funny and scary, the movie works mostly thanks to its likable cast and relatable characters – for some of us, we were these characters. From its intense opening to its surprise ending, Scream is a landmark slasher movie, because it both spoofs and respects its subject matter, something later films would fail to understand. A–
SCREAM 2(1997) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, Timothy Olyphant, Elise Neal, Liev Schreiber, Laurie Metcalf. The first sequel picks up two years after the events of the first film, with Campbell and Kennedy attending college and once again targeted by a killer who, this time, is copying the murders from Part 1. Surprisingly this sequel managed to bring fresh ideas to the table. Not only doesn’t it regurgitate the first movie, it steps up the suspense, especially during a terrific car crash sequence that ends in a white-knuckle getaway. It runs a bit long and a lot of the characters feel like they were created just to be red herrings, but this is still a worthy sequel and with one of the best killer reveals in the series. B+
SCREAM 3 (2000) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Parker Posey, Liev Schreiber, Patrick Dempsey, Scott, Foley, Emily Mortimer, Lance Henrisken. Another copycat killer begins picking off the cast and crew of the third movie (“Stab 3“) based on the events of the first two Screams, dragging past survivors Campbell, Cox, and Arquette into the limelight. Although this meta-take lacks the wit and suspense of its predecessors (Kevin Williamson didn’t return and was replaced by Ehren Kruger as writer), Scream 3 is unfairly named the black sheep of the series; the new characters aren’t as sympathetic or punchy as the three leads, and there’s a muddled retcon revealed in the final act. However, this is an entertaining (and often hilarious) and harmless threequel. Posey steals all of her scenes as an attention-needy actor portraying Cox’s bitchy journalist. B
SCREAM 4(2011) d: Wes Craven. c: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Marley Shelton, Rory Culkin, Anthony Anderson. Ten years after the bloodbath that would leave her and her friends celebrities, Sidney (Campbell) returns to her hometown – the original scene of the crimes – to promote a book about her experiences, coming face-to-face with yet another Ghost Face maniac. Kevin Williamson returns as writer (apparently Ehren Kruger was brought in for rewrites) and the story is given a somewhat refreshing makeover after Scream 3 failed to live up to expectations, resulting in a movie that feels more like it belongs in the Scream cannon. Campbell, Cox, and Panettiere, as a new version of Randy, are good, but Roberts as Sidney’s cousin is completely lifeless. The screenplay is a bit too concerned with trying to get back to the roots of the series, sometimes coming off as a shell of itself, and with a rather listless explanation for the murders, resulting in a lackluster climax. Still, this is an undeniably entertaining entry and proved the series still had life in it. B–
DEATH VALLEY (1982) In an era when Hollywood was trying to cash in on the slasher boom, Universal released this gem about an 8-year-old boy (Billingsley, A Christmas Story) who, while on vacation with his divorced mother (Hicks) and her boyfriend (Le Mat), stumbles upon the aftermath of a murder and is subsequently pursued by the killer (McHattie). A good change of pace with brainless teens replaced by a smart child protagonist and his sympathetic single mom (an element later borrowed in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), this gets big points for concentrating more on characters and suspense, and in doing so creates a good little movie. The cast is excellent, including Billingsley in his film debut. B+ d: Dick Richards. c: Peter Billingsley, Catherine Hicks, Stephen McHattie, Paul Le Mat, Wilford Brimley
EYEBALL (1975) Shades of Argento are cast over this flamboyant Italian slasher from Euro-exploitation auteur Lenzi, about a group of American tourists in Barcelona being stalked by a killer who enjoys cutting out the left eyeball from each victim. As with many giallos of the ’70s, this functions as a whodunit, and for most of its running time works well enough with colorful, if unsympathetic, characters and several juicy murders. The pacing sometimes lags and the screenplay gets too caught up in its melodramatic subplots, but it’s never dull, offers some beautiful Spanish countryside locations, and the identity of the killer is genuinely surprising. Apparently this is one of Tarantino’s favorites. B– d: Umberto Lenzi. c: Martine Brochard, John Richardson, Ines Pellegrini, Andrés Mejuto
HELLO MARY LOU: PROM NIGHT II (1987) Jettisoning the story from the 1980 Prom Night, Part 2 spins a new tale about the vengeful ghost of bad girl, Mary Lou (Schrage), who in 1957 died as the result of a prank gone awry, just after being crowned prom queen. Things get complicated when nice girl, Vicki (Lyon), becomes possessed by Mary Lou and starts doing the prom queen’s deadly bidding. Although Hello Mary Lou relies a bit too heavily on its Nightmare on Elm Street inspirations, this is a much better movie than its reputation suggests, with some extremely imaginative set pieces, including a chalkboard that turns into a swirling pool of black water, and a nice sense of humor (“It’s Linda Blairsville!”). It also has a good cast, including Ferreira (Saw IV) and Ironside (Scanners), and a climax that could give Carrie a run for its money. Worth a re-look. Bd: Bruce Pittman. c: Wendy Lyon, Louis Ferreira, Michael Ironside, Lisa Schrage, Richard Monette
MANIAC (1980) The infamous shocker starring Spinell as serial killer Frank Zito, a man with a serious mother fixation who goes around the streets of Manhattan hacking up prostitutes and models, scalping them, and using their hair to dress the mannequins he keeps at home for company. Lustig directs the film with a grittier eye than most slasher movies of the time, creating a heavy, claustrophobic atmosphere that more “important” films (i.e., Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) would later rip off. Spinell’s off-the-wall performance and Savini’s ultra-realistic FX work (including the ultimate gunshot gag) make this a sleazy classic. B+ d: William Lustig. c: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munroe, Abigail Clayton, Tom Savini
COLD PREY II (2008) Good sequel to the Norwegian original picks up immediately where the first movie left off with final girl Jannicke (Berdal) being transported to a nearby hospital, along with the body of the pick-ax swinging mountain man who killed her friends, and who isn’t as dead as he appears. Although this lacks the suspense of its predecessor it delivers plenty of bloody mayhem at a fast pace, and a slam-bang finale that any of the Friday the 13ths would be envious of. B d: Mats Stenberg. c: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Marthe Snorresdotter Rovik, Fridtjov Såheim, Johanna Mørck
HAPPY HELL NIGHT (1992) When a couple of frat pledges break into a mental hospital as part of a hell night prank they accidentally let loose a psychopathic madman who, 25 years earlier, slaughtered several students from the same fraternity. A surprisingly spirited flick, this seems like a run-of-the-mill slasher but benefits from good direction and a likable cast, including McGavin as a former frat brother who may have something to do with the past event. Lukewarm make-up FX and slightly sluggish pacing hurt, but a good atmosphere and a sense of humor help. Blink and you’ll miss contributions from CSI‘s Jorja Fox and Oscar-winner Sam Rockwell. B– d: Brian Owens. c: Charles Cragin, Nick Gregory, Frank John Hughes, Darin McGavin
NEW YEAR’S EVIL(1980) The host (Kelly) of a televised New Year’s Eve rock special is terrorized by a series of phone calls from a killer (Niven) who’s murdering women at the stroke of midnight from each time zone. There’s a good idea somewhere in this post-Halloween slasher but it’s unfortunately lost in unimaginative direction and unexciting characters. That’s not to say the movie doesn’t have its moments, the highlights being Moritz as a flakey party-goer into “transcendental meditation” and when Niven, disguised as a priest, hides out at a drive-in showing cheap horror movies. Entertaining, but only just. C+ d: Emmett Alston. c: Roz Kelly, Kip Niven, Chris Wallace, Grant Cramer, Louisa Moritz
SLEDGEHAMMER (1983) Rock bottom slasher shot on video about a group of idiotic friends being butchered in an abandoned farmhouse by someone with a sledgehammer. Could it be the now-adult boy who, ten years earlier, killed his abusive mother and her lover in that house with the same weapon? A super-lame Friday the 13th wannabe from beginning to end, with an endless use of slow-motion that makes the 87-minute flick feel like three hours. Not even the graphic violence (which is foiled in extremely low-rent make-up) can save this eye sore bore fest. D– d: David A. Prior. c: Ted Prior, John Eastman, Linda McGill
Happy Holidays! With the Christmas season upon us, I decided to write about a myriad of holiday horror flicks that I usually watch (or avoid) every year. In order, from my favorite to least favorite, here is a list of yuletide horror movies ranging from classics to holiday turkeys. (I did not include any of the Silent Night, Deadly Night movies as they are all thoroughly reviewed in a separate post. You can find the link below!)
Krampus (2015) A dysfunctional family celebrating the holiday together is menaced by a Christmas demon and its curse, which is accidentally summoned by the family’s youngest boy after he loses faith in the season. After an uneven first 20 minutes that essentially play like a mini-remake of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the film kicks into high gear and delivers a crackerjack tale of monsters and survival as the family is bombarded by all manner of creatures, including a 15-foot-long jack-in-the-box with a mouth full of sharp teeth. Director and co-writer Michael Dougherty understands the mechanics of such a movie and keeps the pace moving briskly, while the cast is spirited and likable, including Toni Collette as the harried mom. B+
Black Christmas (2006) An energetic and gory remake of the classic original, with the pretty coeds of a large sorority house menaced by an escaped mental patient (Robert Mann) and his equally demented sister, both of whom enjoy plucking out the eyeballs of their victims. Fans of the 1974 film might not like director Glen (Final Destination) Morgan’s comic book handling of the material, and while the story structure is a mess, it’s still an immensely enjoyable splatter-fest. B+
Blood Beat (1983) An obscure supernatural slasher about a small family spending Christmas in rural Wisconsin, who find themselves in danger when the bloodthirsty spirit of a samurai warrior is accidentally summoned by a psychic friend. This takes too long to get moving and is plagued with unnecessary subplots (two characters are psychic!), but once the paranormal stuff kicks in, this is an enjoyable, nonsensical myriad of oddball aesthetics and dream-like structure. Writer/director Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos admitted to being on drugs at the time he wrote the screenplay, which explains a lot. B
Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) A surprisingly enjoyable low budget psycho-thriller about a maniac killing people in and around a country estate (which holds a dark past), and later calling would-be victims in hushed tones, pontificating about the crimes – a plot point later used in Dressed to Kill. Stiffly acted and at times a bit slow, this is nonetheless a good little flick with well-written characters and a dense atmosphere. The use of the killer’s POV predates Black Christmas, and a plot twist 30 minutes in is genuinely shocking. Look for Andy Warhol superstars Ondine and Candy Darling in a flashback. Definitely worthy of rediscovery! B
To All a Goodnight (1980) Taking its cues from both Halloween and Black Christmas, this low-grade slasher has a sorority house terrorized on Christmas break by a killer wearing a Santa outfit. Jennifer Runyon is the virginal, Laurie Strode-like character while everyone else is essentially just killer fodder. Suspense and surprises are replaced in favor of gore, with a couple of juicy splatter pieces supplied by ’80s FX wizard Mark Shostrom (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3). Not the greatest slasher around, but it’s charming and the spirited cast keeps things moving. This also gets points for predating Silent Night, Deadly Night by four years. B–
Silent Night (2012) A small town is terrorized by someone in a Santa costume killing those who’ve been naughty in this cheerfully bloody remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night. Although the script is filled with uninspired characters and mundane situations, the violence and action are packed in, with the particularly brutal death of a woman in a wood chipper (perhaps in a nod to Fargo?) a highlight. The dime-store atmospherics are obvious, but that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this harmless bit of entertainment, no matter how lapsed in logic it may be. Keep an eye out for Donal Logue as a perverted department store Santa. B–
Home for the Holidays (1972) Joseph (Psycho) Stefano-penned television chiller about four sisters who are summoned to their sick father’s estate at Christmastime, where claims that his new wife (Julie Harris) is slowly poisoning him. Not long after arriving, the women are stalked by someone in a rain slicker, carrying a pitchfork. Could it be the “evil” stepmother, or does someone else have an insidious agenda? A good cast, including Sally Field and Jessica Walter, help elevate this above its mediocre melodramatics, as does slick direction from John Llewellyn Moxey (The Night Stalker). C+
Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) A young boy (Alain Musy) obsessed with Rambo-like action movies must protect his home and elderly grandfather (Louis Ducreux) when a maniac (Patrick Floersheim) dressed as Santa breaks into their house on Christmas Eve. This spirited French film predates Home Alone with its booby trap scenarios, and although it has several fun moments the overall effect is unfortunately bogged down in the film’s flashy visuals and kooky concept, muting a lot of its impact. C+
Don’t Open till Christmas (1984) Someone in a mask is slaughtering Santas on the streets of London in this dopey yuletide slasher. Not nearly as entertaining as the same producer’s Pieces, this is riddled with stupid characters – with perhaps the first protagonist couple who are both panhandlers! – and unbelievable situations, but its overtly sleazy atmosphere mixed with a cheery Christmas vibe creates an undeniably unique slasher flick experience, even if it’s a dumb one. As with most Euro-slashers, this lacks the charm and zest of its American counterparts. C
Christmas Evil (1980) Those expecting a fun splatter flick in the vein of Silent Night, Deadly Night will be disappointed in this existential melodrama about a mentally scarred factory worker (Brandon Maggart) who snaps at Christmastime and goes on a killing spree. Not nearly as entertaining as it sounds, this is too dull and dry to be of any interest, with flat, unexciting direction from Lewis Jackson and a hammy performance by Maggart. C–
Better Watch Out (2017) A babysitter (Olivia DeJonge) is tied up and terrorized by her infatuated charge (Levi Miller) and his friend on Christmas Eve in this juvenile, run-of-the-mill potboiler. Riddled with cliches and extremely predictable twists, it’s all photographed in over-saturated colors and high-gloss lighting, making it feel more like a very long commercial for Abercrombie and Fitch than an actual movie. The cast is annoying (especially Miller, who’s awful) and the screenplay a joke. Zero scares, zero suspense, zero interest. Better watch at your own risk. D
Black Christmas (2019) A new remake that feels tired, this ultra-modern take is so far removed from the classic Bob Clark film it’s a wonder why the filmmakers even bothered with the Black Christmas name. The plot (a sorority is targeted by a cloaked killer during the Christmas break) is rendered pointless by the halfway point because of the overbearingly pretentious excesses the screenplay piles on; it’s more concerned with aggressively annoying characters than story. It’s the kind of hollow script (by Sophia Takal and April Wolfe) that thinks feminism is female characters using the word “bitch,” when it’s nothing more than fake sentiment created merely to seem hip. A bloodless, lifeless Christmas turkey, this gives new meaning to the term lowest common denominator. It’s also an example of the classic saying: if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. F
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 Hills90210) 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!
The Strangers (2008) An annoying couple (Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman) returning home late at night from a wedding are terrorized by three masked sociopaths who try to get inside their house. Writer-director Bryan Bertino does a good job at building tension within the first 30 minutes, but it unfortunately escalates into a nonsensical game of cat-and-mouse. It’s all executed handsomely and filled with gimmicky thrills, but, you can’t help feel as if you’ve been cheated by a pro. C+
The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018) A family staying at a relative’s trailer park fight to the death against the three masked psychos from the 2008 film in this surprisingly good sequel. The action moves at a brisk pace and director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) frames a lot of the movie with an eye on suspense. Also, unlike the lazy characters from the first movie, the ones here are injected with energy and don’t spend the whole movie crying in a corner. Despite a bit too many plot conveniences, this does a good job at keeping you on the edge of your seat up until the fiery climax. B
Urban Legend (1998) One of the better post-Scream horror offerings with enjoyable shades of ’80s slasher tropes about a college tormented by a hooded ax killer who uses famous urban legends as their modus operandi. Good characters and excellent atmospherics help heighten this above its Abercrombie good looks and a majorly goofy red herring in the form of Robert Englund hamming it up as the mysterious professor of – yup – urban legends. Although not nearly as gory as it could be this is still a thoroughly enjoyable flick. B
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000) Decent sequel goes meta (not unlike Scream 3) with several film school students making a class project about the killings from the first movie (titled Urban Legends) while being stalked by a psychopath wearing a fencing mask. This lacks the pacing and energy of the first movie, and there’s a cockamamie subplot involving a dead character’s twin, but it has enough spunk and humor to keep it moving to its goofy climax. Don’t shut off the movie too soon or you’ll miss the surprise cameo at the end complete with the theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents. B–
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 PartV), 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
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.
