Day of the Reaper Movie Review

Trailer here.

Day of the Reaper is a 1984 horror movie directed by Tim Ritter and starring Cathy O' Hanlon, Todd Nolf and Patrick Foster.

This film begins with a man escaping from a mental institution. He wanders off into the woods. Jennifer(O' Hanlon) is talking about her friends being killed thirteen months ago. She says that the killer was caught but she is afraid he will come for her. She has nightmares about it. Some girls are on the beach. Their car breaks down and they go for a look around. Jennifer stops at a phone and she calls a detective. She tells him that she thinks the killer is after her. The detective Rosenberg, tells her that the killer is in prison. He is angry with her and he tells her that she is crazy and needs to see a shrink. He finds out that the killer has escaped. He is called the Reaper. 

Jennifer talks to Doctor Bloch(Foster) and he tells her that the killer is back.  The Reaper(Nolf) kills Rosenberg. The doctor wants to get rid of the Reaper and he wants to use Jennifer as bait. The doctor has trained someone to face the Reaper(what??). The person is dressed as the Reaper and they face off. He gets killed by the real Reaper. Dr. Bloch then kills the real Reaper and he cuts out his heart and eats it. This turns him into the new Reaper and he kills Jennifer.

Now, this is really low budget. This is not a decent movie at all. The whole thing is amateurish and the acting is dreadful. The story is bad etc. I understand that there isn't much money put into this and it is just a starting point for the director. So, just be aware of that if you decide to watch it. It wasn't for me, but I can cut it some slack because of the lack of money and experience. I am giving this 1/10.    

Of Unknown Origin Movie Review

Trailer here.

Of Unknown Origin is a 1983 horror movie directed by George P. Cosmatos and starring Peter Weller, Jennifer Dale and Lawrence Dane.

A man called Bart Hughes(Weller) is saying goodbye to his wife, Meg(Shannon Tweed) and his son Peter. They are going on holiday to her father's house. Bart is staying at home as he has a lot of work to get through. He is alone in their apartment. He hears noises. His dishwasher is broken and he calls a handyman, Clete(Louis Del Grande) who tells Bart that a rat could have damaged it. Bart sets some rat traps. One of his traps get mangled. He goes back to Clete for more advice. He arrives back from work one day to find that his mail has been shredded. He deides that he needs to upgrade his traps. The rat is watching him. Bart stars to research all about rats and becomes more and more obsessed with getting the rat.

Bart purchases some rat poison. He tells Clete that he found a rat in the toilet. He discovers baby rats so he realises that rat is female. Mother rat is watching him. She attacks him and the babies fall out of the box they are in. They end up in the sewer. Bart calls an exterminator. He also finds a cat and brings it into the apartment. By now, Bart has started to hallucinate about the rats. A rat attacks him in his bed and the poor cat meets a grisly end. Bart is falling apart at this stage and he cannot do his job. His assistant Lorrie(Dale) comes over to see him as they are close. She wonders what is going on with him. He tells her to leave.

The rat chews through the electrical wires. Bart has a baseball bat and he gos after it. It sttacks him. He gets away but all of his work papers have been shredded. Bart turns up at work dishevelled. His boss, Eliot(Dane)is not happy.He cuts him some slack though. Bart wants his wife and son to come home, but she won't come home yet. The rat chews through the phone line. Lorrie comes around to visit him but he tells her to leave him alone. Clete goes to see him and he finds Bart making his baseball bat into a weapon. Bart goes looking for the rat and finds it. It attacks him once again and this time he hits it. He kills it and looks around at his ruined apartment. His wife and son return and he has to explain to them what happened.

This was a good film. It is unusual and there is a lot to like about it. I liked the idea and it is creepy thinking about rats in your home.This really is about home invasion, but with rats instead of people.I recommend this and I will give it a 6/10.