The Beast Within – 1982, US, 98m. Director: Philippe Mora.
Graduation Day – 1981, US, 95m. Director: Herb Freed.
TerrorVision – 1986, Italy/US, 85m. Director: Ted Nicolaou.
THE BEAST WITHIN (1982) The rape of a woman by some kind of insect-like creature produces a seemingly normal child who, seventeen years later, begins to exhibit daddy’s complexion and habit of drinking human blood. The backwoods town where the rape was committed tries to conceal the truth about the origin of the monster until its teenage offspring (Paul Clemens) shows up and goes on a killing spree. The Beast Within isn’t a werewolf story but it functions in many of the same ways by drawing inspiration from the classics—the father/son relationship is ripped straight from The Wolf Man (1941). The movie mixes its old school elements with modern tech by offering lots of bloody deaths, and the centerpiece “transformation” scene that’s a showcase for Tom Burman’s drastically overused bladder makeup effects. An interesting idea created from bits and pieces of other movies that never materialized into a cohesive film, The Beast Within is a missed opportunity. Director Philipe Mora would go on to tackle similar themes in Howling II and Howling III, both of which make this one seem good by comparison. C
GRADUATION DAY (1981) A killer seeks revenge against the members of a high school track team after one of their own dies of a heart attack during a meet. Those with a motive to kill include the high-strung track coach (Christopher George), the military-trained older sister (Patch Mackenzie) and the moody boyfriend (E. Danny Murphy) of the heart attack victim, and the school principal (Michael Pataki) who keeps a collection of switchblades in his desk. The eventual unmasking of the murderer comes as no surprise to anyone with half a brain, which is just one of the many bumps in this uncreative slasher featuring some of the lamest splatter effects this side of Friday the 13th. Dull and highly moronic. C–
TERRORVISION (1986) A television-obsessed family receives an alien transmission through their new satellite dish in the form of a slimy monster. The creature liquifies the grandfather into a puddle and laps up the bodily remains with its giant tongue. The clueless parents (Gerrit Graham and Mary Woronov)—wannabe swingers who still think it’s 1975—don’t believe their son (Chad Allen) when he tells them about the alien, which can somehow zap itself back into the TV set whenever its convenient. Allen and teen sis Diane Franklin try to domesticate the alien into becoming the family pet, until the critter realizes it prefers the taste of humans to frozen dinners. Terror wins in the end when the monster turns an Elvira-like TV host into its puppet with plans of using her television studio to enter living rooms throughout America. TerrorVision is often funny and its depiction of a dysfunctional, post-modern nuclear family predates The Simpsons and Tim Burton by several years. The film’s concept, while amusing, runs out of ideas and at a certain point becomes a one-note joke. Still, this is one of Empire’s better offerings. C+