American Gothic – 1987, Canada, 90m. Director: John Hough.
Black Roses – 1988, Canada, 89m. Director: John Fasano.
The Prey – 1983, US, 80m/97m (international version). Director: Edwin Brown.
AMERICAN GOTHIC (1987) Yuppies crash their seaplane onto a remote island owned by fundamentalists Ma (Yvonne De Carlo) and Pa (Rod Steiger), who live in a pre-World War II time warp. Ma and Pa don’t believe in modern conveniences (such as running water or electricity), and treat their middle-aged offspring like children—their eldest, Fanny (Janet Wright), a demented woman with a Little Orphan Annie perm, believes she’s about to turn twelve. Fanny also happens to be a psycho and enjoys killing off the newcomers with the help of her equally disturbed brother (Michael J. Pollard). When Fanny doesn’t finish the job, Ma takes her extra-long knitting needles to send one of the wicked outsiders to Hell. The tables are turned when sole survivor Cynthia (Sarah Torgov) is revealed to be just as crazy as the rest of the lot, and does some housecleaning by laying waste to the family homestead. American Gothic won’t win any awards for originality, but it’s a colorful little film with rich characters and an atmospheric backwoods setting. B
BLACK ROSES (1988) The uptight parents of rock ‘n’ roll-loving teens are put on high alert when heavy metal hair band Black Roses breezes into town. Conservatives protest the band in fear of their children being turned into demoralized fiends, or worse—Democrats! And wouldn’t you know it? The members of Black Roses are actually demons with a mission to transform the young and impressionable into anarchists, degenerates, and murderers. A father (Vincent Pastore) is eaten by a monstrous stereo speaker (death by metal?) after berating his rocker son for getting his ear pierced. A nagging mom is run over with a car driven by her teen son, right before another (Frank Dietz) executes his father with a gun, post-coitus with a demon sporting teased hair and Penthouse-sized breasts. A student tries to fellate her teacher and turns into a deformed monster with sharp teeth. Egghead John Martin tries to stop the massacre by setting the band’s stage on fire, resulting in Black Roses shedding their human forms and showing the audience their true, hideous skin—rubbery makeup effects abound. Good wins in the end, but not before our heroes turn on the boob tube to see everyone’s favorite metal band from Hell back on tour and selling out Madison Square Garden. An amusing satire for the MTV generation. C+
THE PREY (1983) Filmed in 1979, this woodsy-terrain slasher originally predated similarly themed Don’t Go in the Woods (1981), The Forest (1982), and The Final Terror (1983), but because of distribution problems The Prey film wasn’t released until years later. The movie might have been conceived first, but in terms of quality The Prey doesn’t have much to offer in its story of backpackers being stalked by a disfigured woodsman. Dull actors portray even duller characters who occupy the dull narrative—although there are a few gory moments to cherish. A man gets his head sliced off with a double-edged axe in the opening, a camper gets his throat ripped open by the killer’s gnarled fingers, and another has his head twisted 180 degrees. An alternate cut of the movie (which runs nearly 20 minutes longer) includes additional footage depicting the maniac’s origins, and a couple of softcore sex scenes featuring porn actor Eric Edwards that were filmed without director Edwin Brown’s consent. The Prey isn’t the worst axe-wielding slasher out there, but it’s far from the best. C