Flesh Feast – 1970, US, 70m. DIrector: Brad F. Grinter.
The Guardian – 1990, US, 92m. Director: William Friedkin.
The Possessed – 1977, US, 74m. Director: Jerry Thorpe.
FLESH FEAST (1970) This shot-in-Miami shoestring sounds like a movie by Herschel Gordon Lewis, but Flesh Feast is actually produced by and features former Hollywood starlet Veronica Lake. Lake plays Elaine Fredericks, a plastic surgeon seeking revenge for the murder of her mother in a WWII concentration camp. Fredericks infiltrates an underground Nazi ring under the guise of creating maggots that can rejuvenate dead skin—which the Nazis want to use on Hitler, who’s apparently alive! In reality, the loony Doc has been training the maggots to feast on human flesh, ultimately dowsing Der Führer in the creepy crawlies and laughing maniacally while she watches his demise. Nothing about this moribund production is the least bit interesting. Even what little we see of the gore effects are howlingly awful and make the makeup work in an H.G. Lewis flick seem classy by comparison. Sadly, this excruciating endeavor was Lake’s final film before her death in 1973. F (Not currently streaming.)
THE GUARDIAN (1990) Too-good-to-be-true Camilla (Jenny Seagrove) is the perfect nanny. She’s attentive, prompt, wonderfully patient with her young charges, and not hard on the eyes. She also happens to be part of an ancient supernatural pagan cult that sacrifices children to some sort of tree-god. The All-Powerful Tree to which Camilla feeds babies happens to be adjacent to the home of the Sterling family who, having just welcomed their newest addition (a baby boy), have hired Camilla to be their nanny. (It isn’t much of a coincidence when the Sterling’s first choice for nanny is waylaid in a bicycling accident.) The Sterling house becomes a hotbed of sexual tension between Dad (Dwier Brown), who spends a good deal of the time shirtless, and the uninhibited Camilla, who likes to parade in front of Brown in nothing but her birthday suit. This was William Friedkin’s first true horror production since The Exorcist, and the results are mixed. The script offers several incredulous moments that would look more at home in a Sam Raimi Evil Dead movie, such as when the Tree dismembers and eats a rapist. Always the thoughtful writer, Friedkin infuses most of The Guardian with an undercurrent of psychological suspense, even when the story veers off course and into the absurd. Despite all this, The Guardian is never dull and offers the viewer an entertaining, albeit ridiculous, yarn. B– (Not currently streaming.)
THE POSSESSED (1977) Something sinister is happening at the Helen Page School for Girls, conveniently—or not conveniently, depending on which way you look at it—located in the witch-burning capital of America: Salem, Massachusetts. When a series of fires break out at the Catholic school, a concerned teacher (Claudette Nevins), whose daughter (Ann Dusenberry) was nearly burnt to death as a result of one of the arson incidents, brings in a disgraced priest-turned-supernatural investigator (James Farentino) for help. After some sleuthing, Farentino discovers the mysterious flames are being emitted from moody headmistress Joan Hackett, who over the course of the film has become the embodiment of Evil, with a particular penchant for fireworks. The screenplay is fairly light on material, but the pace moves at a good clip and the characters are mostly sympathetic. This gets extra points for some impressive pyrotechnic special effects, especially during the fiery climax. A better than average made-for-TV chiller worth seeking out. Harrison Ford has a bit role as a horny teacher. B (Currently not available.)