Venom Movie Review

Trailer here.

Venom is a 1981 thriller directed by Piers Haggard and starring Oliver Reed, Klaus Kinski, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Susan George and Sterling Hayden.

The film begins with a woman called Ruth and her son Philip. Ruth's father is Howard Anderson(Hayden) who is a very wealthy man. Working in the house is a maid called Louise(George) and a chauffeur, Dave(Reed). They are part of a scheme orchestrated by Jacques Muller(Kinski) to kidnap the kid and get money. Jacques calls Howard and tells him that he is filming a movie and he needs his expertise. Philip goes to a pet shop and he collects a pet snake which was supposed to be sent to the toxicology institute where Dr. Marion Stowe(Miles)is waiting. She has the pet snake instead. Philip has a black mamba.

Marion calls the police and she tells them what has happened. She tells them that the boy will die if he is bitten. Louise wants Philip to come with her and Jacques. The snake attacks her and bites her in the face. Howard returns home and Dave stops him calling the police. Jacques tells him that he is in charge. Dave locks Howard in the cellar. A policeman calls at the house and Dave shoots him. Jacques is angry with him. Louise is very ill. More police  and ambulances arrive at the house. Jacques talks to Commander Bulloch(Williamson). He tells him that he wants to leave. The snake emerges from its hiding place. It goes into the vent. Howard realises that it is a black mamba. He looks for it. The police cordon off the street. Marksmen arrive. Bulloch talks to Jacques. The criminal wants money and a car. Bulloch finds out about the killer snake. He wants to know who is in the house. Dr. Stowe shows up and she fills him in about black mambas.

Bulloch wants Marion to tell Jacques about the snake.She instructs him to call a man called David Ball(Michael Gough) who happens to be a snake expert. Jacques tells them that Louise will die if they don't send in a doctor with the antivenom. Marion takes it in and she is taken hostage. Bulloch finds an old entrance to the house. Marion tells them that snakes don't like the cold. She says that there should be no heating. The cops are working on getting the money. Ruth arrives home. Bulloch finds a way into the house and he takes Ball with him. Dave and Howard are in the cellar and Dave gets shot by Bulloch. The snake appears and it kills Dave.

Jacques is alone now as both his partners in crime have been killed by the snake. Bulloch and Ball are stuck as the snake is keeping them from entering the house. The snake catches up with Jacques and attacks him. Howard and Philip don't help him. There is a struggle and Jacques ends up on the balcony where he and the snake get shot. Howard and Philip are okay. Everything looks good until we see that the snake laid some babies and they are hatching.....

This was a good film. The cast is impressive. I will say that I felt that there isn't enough snake in it. I wanted more of it and some more killings. It was a good thriller though and it seems like it is more of a hostage drama than a thriller. It is worth seeing though and it has Oliver Reed in it, which is a bonus. I will give it a 5/10.

Savage Harvest Movie Review

Savage Harvest is a 1981 horror movie directed by Robert L.Collins and starring Tom Skerritt, Michelle Phillips and Arthur Malet.

The movie begins with a man being killed by an animal in a small village in Africa. A man called Derek (Derek Partridge) is driving along when he sees the local tribes leaving the area. He talks to the leader and he is told that it is too dangerous for them to stay. Something is going on. A family is living in the area, on a plantation. They are Maggie(Phillips), Wendy(Anne-Marie Martin),Kristie and Jon. Maggie is married to Derek. Her ex husband is Casey(Skerritt) and he is there too. A friend, MacGruder(Malet) arrives at the plantation. He thinks that there are large predators in the area. He tells the family that he found remains. He tells Maggie to be careful. He is looking for a radio. Casey finds out what is going on and he wants to go to the plantation as his daughter is there and Derek has gone away for the night.

Mac's van breaks down and he finds himself face to face with a panther. Casey finds an overturned vehicle and he sees drag marks. A man is dead. A lion kills one of the staff at the plantation. There are more than one of them. Casey arrives in time to save his daughter. He tries to shoot at the lion but it escapes. There is a group of them now and they want to get in as they are starving. A lion comes down the chimney and it eats one of the staff. He enters the living room and the family are terrified. They get it out and they have to barricade the place to stop them from coming down the chimney. They get some guns. The lions try to break down the door. Everyone tries to barricade the house.

Kristie makes the mistake of opening the door and gets dragged off by a lion. Casey saves her but it attacks him. Jon shoots it. Jon and Wendy get on the roof and they wave at a passing plane for help but it doesn't work. The lions are relentless. Casey decides that they should drive out of there. Derek is on his way home, unaware of what is happening. The lions greet him and he gets eaten. Maggie comes face to face with a hungry lion. She tries to scare it off. The lions storm the house. The group build a barriacde around them so they can get to the car. They manage to get there. The lions attack and they light a fire to keep the animals at bay.  They get into the car and drive away. 

I liked this film. It was a lot of fun. It does make people think that lions go around eating people but that isn't true. I think humans are more likely to kill lions than the other way around. It is an entertaining film, though. Some lovely animals in this, even if they are the villains(Yes, I do like lions!) and Michelle Phillips of the Mama's and Papa's makes an appearance. I recommend this and I will give it a 5/10.

Scream Movie Review

Trailer here.

Scream(not THAT Scream) is a 1981 slasher movie directed by Byron Quisenberry and starring Pepper Martin, Woody Strode and Ethan Wayne.

The film begins with a group of people who are going to visit an old ghost town. They decide to camp there. Soon, they realise that there is a killer there, who decides to kill some of them quickly. Three of them are dead and nine are left to try and figure out what is going on. They find that their rafts have been destroyed so they can't go back the way they came. Two men come on bikes and they take a man called Jerry with them so they can get help. One of the group, Lou wakes up from a nap and finds himself alone. He wanders off. The group are nervous as the bikers haven't come back. Little do they know that they have been killed, along with Jerry.

The rest of the group set up booby traps to catch the killer. They want to hear him when he comes. They hear a bell ringing and see a man on a horse who looks like a cowboy. He tells them that his name is Charlie Winters(Strode). Jerry is on the back of his horse, dead. The man tells them some story about a sea captain and then he rides off on his horse. The others hear a light and they go to investigate. They lock themselves into a room. Someone tries to break the door. One of the gang called Stan(Wayne) comes in and he is in a bad way. Another of the group called Andy gets attacked. Bob(Martin), who is the leader of the group, is next. Lou is attacked too.

Charlie arrives back with a car. The killer is invisible so it is a ghost. Charlie manages to shoot it and destroy it. Then he heads off. An old couple show up and that ends the film. I found this to be a boring film. I just didn't like it. It was bad and there were a lot of questions left unanswered. It isn't one of the better slasher films from this period.I wouldn't really bother watching this unless you are stuck for something to watch. I will give it a 3/10.

Blue Monkey Movie Review

Trailer here.

Blue Monkey is a 1987 horror movie directed by William Fruet and starring Steve Railsback, Gwynyth Walsh,Susan Anspach, Don Lake and John Vernon.

An old lady called Marwella has an unusual plant in her greenhouse. It comes from an island somewhere. Her friend pricks himself on it. He feels weird afterwards and he collapses. His finger is infected. He is brought into hospital. The doctors look at it and they are baffled. The man spits out something odd. At the same time, Detective Jim Bishop(Railsback) arrives at he hospital with his partner, who has been shot. The insect pupa is put into a jar and taken to the lab so the doctors can look at it. They are going to call the institute for disease control for help. Dr. Judith Glass(Anspach) is interested in it and she cuts into the pupa. An insect emerges. Dr. Rachel Carson(Walsh) is looking at it also. She calls a friend of hers-Dr. Elliot Jacobs(Lake), to look at this new insect.

Everyone is in quarantine, including Jim, until they can discover what this insect is. The man who carried the insect suddenly gets worse and he dies. More of the patients are being infected. The sample taken from the hospital is analysed at the institute. They have never seen anything like it. They call the health department. Some kids who are wandering around the hospital go into the lab and they pour some sort of powder on the insect. The insect starts to grow and it kills some staff members. People are beginning to panic as the insect is on the prowl. It turns out that the powder the kids spilled on the insect was growth hormone. The police show up, along with the army. Roger Levering(Vernon) is the hospital director and he is not happy about this at all. 

The hospital is put under quarantine and nobody is leaving. The insect is killing people in the hospital. Dr. Jacobs, Jim and Rachel see the insect. It is gigantic. It looks as if the growth hormone has caused it to become a giant killer. It gives birth to another insect. Soon, it will be breeding all over the place and there will be giant insects roaming the corridors. Dr. Jacobs tells them that they need to kill the female to stop it breeding. They need to use fire.

They search for butane and they need to lure the male into another place and get at the female. They search for the female. The eggs are hatching already. They are chased by the male and the female is alone. Jim burns the female and the eggs. The male sees this and he is mad.

Jim is chased by it. Rachel wants to get into the laser lab and kill the thing. Jim shoots at it. He tries to lure it away from everyone else. He gets cornered. Rachel and Dr. Jacobs play a recording of the female's voice. They lure it into the laser lab and Rachel uses the laser on it. It doesn't work at first, but then they point it at the creature's eyes. It starts to die. Everyone survives, but of course, there are more eggs.

This was a fun creature feature. The idea of a huge insect running around a hospital killing people has to be fun! It's definitely entertaining and one to watch.I will give it a 5/10.

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.

The Zero Boys Movie Review

Trailer here.

The Zero Boys is a 1986 horror movie directed by Nico Mastorakis and starring Kelli Moroney and Crystal Carson.

The film begins with a group of paintballers called The Zero Boys. They are champions at it. They decide to go into the woods for a vacation. They are Casey, Steve,Rip, Trish(Carson), Sue, Jamie(Moroney)and Larry. They go to a cabin and they decide to stay for the night. It is Rip's birthday and they are up for fun. Someone is watching the house. Trish sees someone looking at them. Steve and Jamie find a human bone, Trish tells the group that someone is watching them. They decide to go. The car won't start. Jamie sees a guy with a knife. The phone isn't working either. Steve and the others get weapons to protect themselves. Larry and Rip spot someone. They also find a mass grave with loads of human bones. They discover a video of a girl being tortured. 

The girls find a trunk in the house, which contains a dead body. Trish goes upstairs and she is grabbed by a man. The guys return from looking around and they see Trish being tortured in the barn. They try to get in to save her, but she has gone. The phone rings and the psycho is on the line. He is not happy. Trish is thrown into the house through a trapdoor. She isn't dead, just traumatised. Steve asks her about who took her. The group discover that their truck is working. They decide to go out to it.  Larry gets killed.  There are two killers after them. The rest of the group are chased  by the killers and they have to use their paintball skills to fight. It turns out that there are three killers in the end.

This is a fun film. It's a mix of slasher movie and action movie but it works well. It is directed by the guy who also directed the infamous Island of Death. A fun fact about this film is that is used the same sets as Friday the 13th part 3. It isn't as good as that movie, but it is worth a watch and I'm giving it a 5/10.

House on the Edge of the Park Movie Review

Trailer here.

House on the Edge of the Park is a 1980 horror film directed by Ruggero Deodato and starring David Hess, Annie Belle, Christian Borromeo and Giovanni Lombardo Radice.

Alex(Hess) is a psychopath who is driving around New York looking for victims. He meets a woman and he rapes and murders her. He meets his pal, Ricky(Radice) who wants to come with him. Ricky tells Alex that the cops were looking for a car, but he took it and hid it. A couple pull into a parking garage where the two men work.Tom(Borromeo) and his girlfriend, Lisa(Belle) want help with their car. Alex tells Tom that he can't do it. They begin chatting and they mention that they are having a party. The two guys are invited to the party, which is in New Jersey. Alex brings along some things that he can use to murder people. 

They arrive at the house which belongs to Gloria(Lorraine De Selle). Another two people are there too-Glenda and Howard. They are all out for fun and thrills. Alex comes on to Lisa after seeing her in the shower. She runs off before he can do anything. Alex realises that the others are cheating his friend Ricky at poker. This makes him angry and a fight breaks out. Howard and Tom are beaten up by Alex and Ricky. Alex brings out a straight razor and holds it to Tom's neck. He forces them to play poker again and this time, he sits in. Ricky wins. Alex decides to have some fun with the rich folks. He tells Ricky to choose which girl he likes. He picks Gloria and tries to rape her. Howard tries to stop them, but he doesn't get far. Alex ties him up.

Alex brings Gloria to Ricky but Ricky doesn't want to rape her. Alex isn't impressed. Glenda turns off the lights. Alex leaves Ricky in charge and goes in search of Lisa and Tom. He beats up Tom and rapes Linda. He wants her to mess around with Glenda. A girl called Cindy calls at the house. Alex tells Gloria to let her in. Gloria gets out and runs for help. Ricky chases her. He says he doesn't want to hurt her and they end up having sex.  Alex messes around with Cindy. Gloria tries to talk to Ricky about the police. Alex catches her and Ricky tells him they should leave. Alex won't. He cuts Cindy. Ricky isn't happy with that and tries to stop him. Alex stabs him. Tom pulls a gun and shoots him in the leg and then shoots him again. It turns out that the girl Alex killed was Tom's sister. It was all a set up to get Alex. Tom shoots him again and kills him. He falls into the swimming pool. Howard is going to kill Ricky but Gloria stops him. Tom calls the police. 

This is a brutal film. It is nasty in parts. There is a lot of violence and rape in it. It reminds me of Last House on the Left, which also starred Hess. He is good at playing a bad guy. This film will stay with you for a while afterwards because it is intense, but it is definitely worth a look. Deodato is more famous for Cannibal Holocaust, but I prefer this one. Just be warned, that it is not for the faint hearted.

I will give it a 5/10.

Killer Workout Movie Review

Trailer here.

Killer Workout a.k.a Aerobicide is a 1987 slasher film directed by David A. Prior and starring Marcia Karr and Ted Prior.

The film begins with a woman called Valerie, who has a tanning bed accident and gets badly burned. Cut to a fitness club where the owner is Rhonda(Karr), who just happens to be Valerie's twin sister. One of the customers ends up dead after a killer comes into the women's changing room. The body is then stuffed into a locker where it is found. Lieutenant Morgan(David James Campbell) is on the case. He asks Rhonda and her employee, Jaimy about the dead girl. There is a new employee starting work on the same day. His name is Chuck(Prior).Chuck starts fighting with a guy and has a kiss with the guys ex girlfriend, Debbie.

A group of youths spray paint the fitness club.Unfortunately for them, the killer is lurking and murders them.After this, more people meet their end inside the club. It becomes dangerous to even go in there at this point! Jimmy offers to help Rhonda. She refuses his help. Chuck finds a shrine that he has to Rhonda and he fights Jimmy yet again. It's getting a bit pointless at this stage. Morgan discovers that Chuck is a private eye and he is there to find out what's going on. Chuck tells Morgan to Jimmy is a weird guy. He shows him the pictures that Jimmy took of Rhonda. Jaimy is the next to die. Jimmy and Chuck have another run in. This time, Jimmy kills him.

Morgan calls to see Rhonda and tells her that he knows that it is Valerie. He thinks that she is the one killing. He takes her in, but he gets a call about Jimmy. He thinks that he might be the killer and there is a showdown. Morgan asks him why he is covering for Rhonda but Jimmy escapes. He goes to the club to talk to Rhonda but she shoots him dead. Rhonda is happy for him to take the blame for the killings. Morgan isn't so sure about Jimmy. He takes Rhonda out to the countryside and tells her some story about his dad. He is going to kill her because he knows that she will not pay for what she has done. She is the murderer. Rhonda hits him with a shovel and she kills him. Rhonda is a hero to her customers. In her office, she has her murder weapon and she smiles as she thinks about how she got away with her crimes.

This film isn't great, but it isn't totally terrible either. There are lots of boobs, bums and fights, if they are your thing. The music is decent enough. Lots of flexing also! The story isn't bad and I enjoyed it for what is is- a middle of the road slasher film with enough to entertain. I will give his a 4/10.

Fear City Movie Review

Trailer here.

Fear City is a 1984 thriller directed by Abel Ferrara and starring Tom Berenger, Billy Dee Williams and Melanie Griffith.

Matt(Berenger) and his friend Nicky(Jack Scalia) run a stripper management company together. Someone is on the streets attacking strippers. They go to hospital to see the latest victim. She tells them what happened. The attacker cut off her fingers. Matt was a boxer and he accidentaly killed his opponent in the ring. He has been haunted by that ever since. He is at a strip club with  a cop called Wheeler(Williams) comes in. He is investigating the stripper attack. He asks Matt about it. A stripper called Loretta(Griffith) is Matt's ex girlfriend. He is keeping an eye on her. Another stripper gets attacked and she gets cut. The psycho writes down his attacks. Wheeler talks to Matt again. Loretta is very upset about it. Nicky wants to go out and find the guy. Matt talks to a rival agency and he asks the guy if he is in on it but he isn't.

Wheeler tries to figure out why the person is attacking these women. Matt and Loretta have sex. Another girl gets attacked and this time, she dies. The two agencies come to an agreement. They are going to get the killer. Nicky sees a man in a strip club with a knife in his pocket. He and the club owner get the guy alone and they beat him up before they realise he isn't the one. Matt goes to see Loretta but she is on drugs, unable to cope with everything. Another girl gets attacked and killed. Matt is angry because none of the girls are showing up for work. All the clubs are losing customers. Nicky's girlfriend is almost attacked by the killer. He beats Nicky up. Wheeler takes Matt into custody. He beats him up. Nick is in hospital. Matt gets bail and goes to see his pal.

Matt goes to see a mob boss, Carmine and asks his advice. Carmine tells him to take of the guy himself. Matt gets ready. He combs the streets. Loretta is in a bad way and she goes out alone looking for her dealer. She finds the dealer dead. The killer stabs her in the leg. She maces him and runs. Matt shows up and he and the killer fight. Matt beats him so badly, the guy dies. The police show up as Loretta called them. Wheeler lets Matt go as he has done them a favour in catching the killer. 

This film is good. I liked the cast. Everyone was good in their parts. There are some decent scenes and I like the story. Berenger is good as the boxer turned stripper manager. Williams plays his part well, as does Griffith. I recommend this one. It is well worth your time. I will give it a 5/10.

Blood Tracks Movie Review

Trailer here.

Blood Tracks is a 1985 horror movie directed by Mats Helge Olsson and Derek Ford. It stars Jeff Harding and Brad Powell.

A man attacks his wife in front of his sons. She stabs him and he dies. She runs off into the wilderness with all of her children. Cut to 1985 and the family have been hiding for forty years. People are coming to the area. They are a movie crew who are going to shoot a music video. A rock band , Easy Action, arrive in Colorado to shoot their video. The locals warn them that there might be an avalanche. The film crew spot an old, abandoned factory and decide that it is a perfect place to film, even though it has been condemned. A few actresses turn up to star in the video. They are shooting when there is an avalanche.

Their pilot is called John(Harding) and he tells them that there is nothing to worry about.

The weirdo family are watching them. A guy called Nick is shooting footage in the factory when he gets hit on the head. Two others get caught in the avalanche and they have to be dug out.  Nick looks at his camera footage and realises that there are other people in the factory. They see a face. The sound guy, Dave goes to the factory to check the sound and he is killed. One of the girls, Carrie finds his stuff and goes back to tell the others that Dave is missing. Nick and Bob try to get the radio working so they can call for help.  Then they decide to go and look for Dave. They tell the others to stay together. Another one of the group gets killed by one of the psycho family. A girl is next. Nick meets a sticky end also,

Carrie gets captured by the family.

More people die as the family are determined to get rid of them. Carrie wakes up and tries to escape. One of the group contacts John on the radio but there is interference and he can't really hear but he tells her that he is coming. Carrie wanders around the factory but manages to get herself caught again and this time, there is no escape as she is killed. The family get into the cabin. John arrives and he talks to Bob. Bob fills him in about what is happening. John gives him some flares and he tells him to let them off if he hears a helicopter. Suzie is the next to be caught by the family. Bob goes to the factory once again but leaves a girl called Sarah with the flares. The family are killing once again. Sarah gets attacked but she manages to get to the snowmobile and she takes off.  She gets caught. John wanders into the factory and he gets attacked. He fights his attacker and manages to kill one of the weirdos. Bob shoots one of them.

One of the weirdos is called Lee and he witnesses Bob killing his brother. He kills Bob. It turns out that Suzie is still alive. She tries to escape. She finds John, who is badly injured. They use the radio to contact the helicopter. The weirdo mother fights with another of the group and she gets burned. John shoots Lee and blows off his arm. The survivors leave. This is a somewhat entertaining film. There isn't too much to it but there were some good scenes. It's pretty standard stuff. Now, you could make some comparisons to The Hills Have Eyes, but this film is nowhere near as good.  It is really average so take that into consideration before you watch it and lower your expectations. It's good for fans of 80's horror, like me. I will give it a 4/10.

Destroyer Movie Review

Trailer here.

Destroyer is a 1988 horror movie directed by Robert Kirk and starring Lyle Alzado, Deborah Foreman and Anthony Perkins.

Ivan Mosler(Alzado) is a killer on death row. His time has come to die. He is going to the electric chair. As he is being electrocuted, the power goes out. He comes back to life and he kills the priest who is with him and the prison guard. Cut to a writer called David(Clayton Rohner), who is making a movie called Death House Dolls. The director is Robert Edwards(Perkins). Susan(Foreman) is a stuntwoman standing in for Sharon(Lannie Garrett), the star of the movie. There is a film crew and a janitor guy called Russell(Tobias Anderson) who is keeping an eye on the old prison where they are shooting. The old warden of the prison shows up. He is all riled up. He wants to talk to the film crew. Susan finds an old doll with a message on it. 

The warden talks to David about the prison. He isn't too happy about them filming there. David is curious about what happened at the prison. Robert tells him to stop asking questions. The warden ends up getting killed. Russell sees the body. He turns a blind eye. A police officer shows up and he asks Russell about the warden. The prison is the same one that Ivan Mosler was in. He is still there. He is the one who is leaving messages. He has an eye for Susan. Russell leads the cop down to Ivan's lair. Ivan kills him. Sharon decides to quit the film.  She gets drunk and ends up meeting Ivan. He chases her. Russell tries it on with her and she fights him off.  He ends up falling. Ivan kills her. Susan is scared when she sees another message.

David talks to a former inmate of the prison. He tells David about Ivan Mosler and what happened.

He says that Ivan is still half alive. Russell is Mosler's dad. Robert gets fried in the electric chair.

Mosler shows up pretending to be a police officer. Susan realises it and she runs away. Mosler chases her. David looks for her. There is a fight when he runs into Ivan. He gets knocked out. Susan manages to electrocute Ivan but he isn't dead. Susan and David reunite. They try to escape. Mosler comes back yet again. They pour gasoline over him and Susan sets him alight. Russell dies also. Susan wakes up in hospital where she sees Mosler but it is just a bad dream. She survived and so did David.

I watched this film because Anthony Perkins was starring in it. He played his part well and made this better than it was. The film was entertaining in parts but some of the acting was dire. Overall, this is a fun slasher movie, but nothing special. I will give it a 5/10.

Hack- O- Lantern Movie Review

 

 Trailer here.

Hack -O- Lantern is a 1988 horror movie directed by Jag Mundhra and starring Hy Pike and Gregory Scott Cummins.

The movie begins with grandpa(Pike) coming to visit his grandson, Tommy(Cummins). He brings him a pumpkin for Halloween and he hands him a pendant. Tommy's mother doesn't like grandpa visiting her son. Her husband goes to visit grandpa and warn him to stay away but he ends up seeing a cult and grandpa is part of it. Grandpa kills him. Cut to years later and Tommy is all grown up. He still has the pendant. Grandpa is still around and he tells Tommy that he is going to join his cult tonight. Mother is still not happy but there isn't much she can do about it. She tries to reason with grandpa,but he won't change his mind. There is some sort of weird incest vibe between them.

Tommy's sister is Vera(Carla Baron) and his brother is Roger(Jeff Brown), who happens to be a cop. There is a Halloween party on and Vera is going with her friend, Beth(Patricia Christie). Mother tries to talk to Tommy but he is set on joining grandpa's gang. He has some weird dream about being a band with a woman dancing around and shooting lasers. She dances with Tommy and she sticks a pitchfork through him. Roger talks to mother about Tommy. Beth and Roger meet and they like each other. Roger finds Tommy's Satanic lair. Things are getting out of hand here! An unknown killer is on the prowl and they kill Tommy's gal pal. Vera has a boyfriend called Brian and he and Tommy have a run in. The killer chases Brian and he ends up dead. What is going on in this weird place??

Grandpa and his group have a young girl in their meeting place and they brand her backside with a pentagram. Roger and Beth are getting on really well. Vera and Beth happen to be walking through the cemetery when they come upon Brian's dead body. Vera thinks that Tommy is to blame and she goes looking for him at grandpa's place. She goes there and interrupts the cult's ceremony. Grandpa tells her that she is going to pay for interrupting him. He orders Tommy to kill her, but he won't do it. Grandpa is hopping mad. Vera escapes and gets Beth and they go looking for Roger at the Halloween party. Tommy runs away from grandpa. The killer is at the party and more people die. The cops go to grandpa's barn, but he has hidden all of the cult stuff.

Grandpa shows up at the party and he tries to attack Vera. He is stopped by Roger but he passes his power onto him before he dies. Roger sees the killer and he shoots at them. The killer runs off and goes to the cemetery. It turns out to be mother!!! She is at her husband's grave. Tommy ends up there too and they bond before she dies. The movie ends with Roger becoming the next leader of the cult. What can I say about this film...It was bad. The story was bad, the acting was bad and the ending was bad. I hadn't heard of this one before and I was intrigued by the title, but it did not live up to my expectations at all. It doesn't have enough in it to be a decent Halloween movie. It doesn't have a great story and the kills weren't all that good either. It was just poor overall. Watch at your own peril. I give this a 3/10.

Berserker Movie

 

Trailer here

Berserker is a 1987 horror movie directed by Jefferson Richard and starring Greg Dawson and Beth Toussaint.

The movie begins with flashbacks to the tenth century where Viking warriors were around. Cut to modern day and an old couple get lost in the wilderness. They get murdered by something lurking in the bushes. A group of young people are going for a camping trip. They are Josh(Greg Dawson), Larry, Mike, Kristi, Kathy and Shelly(Toussaint). The place they are going is called Rainbow Valley and it was settled by Norwegians years ago. They get stopped by a local cop who informs them that there are animals out in the woods. He is very odd. The owner of the campsite is called Pappy Nyquist(George "Buck" Flower) and he isn't too friendly either. He rents them a spot and warns them to be careful. Larry is reading about the Berserkers. They were warriors and they ate human flesh. He tells the group that they can possess their relatives.

The cop is called Walt and he is Pappy's cousin. They meet and talk about the group of people who are camping. Walt worries about them being out in the wilderness. He decides that he will check on them. Josh has been in Rainbow Valley before and he directs the group to a different spot than they were given by Pappy. Kristi meets some sort of bear in the woods and she gets mauled. Shelley and Mike find a dead body. They run off into the woods and Shelley finds Kristi's dead body. She ends up getting attacked too. She dies. The rest of the group find her and Kristi. Josh tells them that they need to get help. Pappy goes out in his truck to check on them.

Josh manages to get everyone lost. Pappy is out there looking for them. Mike remembers where their cabin is. He and Kathy have to go for help. Josh has to stay with Larry, who has hurt his leg. Mike ad Kathy reach the cabin. Mike takes a motorbike and drives off for help. Josh gets mauled. Larry is stuck and watches as a bear fights the Berserker who has been attacking people. The Berserker runs away. Larry makes his way back to the cabin slowly. Mike meets Walt and tells him what's going on.
Larry reaches the cabin where Kathy is. She runs outside to meet him. The Berserker shows up. Kathy flags Walt down. He sees the Berserker too. He draws his gun but seems reluctant to shoot it but he does. Back up arrives and we discover that Pappy was the Berserker. The movie ends with him waking up.

This film is cheaply made and not the best. There are some scenes that are silly and there isn't very much of the Berserker in this. There is a bear wandering around, which adds to the confusion at times. It could be a lot better but the acting is bad, the kills are so so and the ending isn't great either.
I wanted to see it because I love 80's horror movies, but just be warned that this one is not very good unfortunately. I will give it a 4/10.