by Joshua Skye:
Horror films are a dime a dozen, so few of them have the potential to become classics of the genre. Among the thousands of entries, only a handful of titles ever resonate with audiences beyond the loyal base. Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and The Exorcist are household names, even those too afraid to watch horror films are keenly aware of these titles and the legends they’ve spawned. But outside of horror fans, who has ever heard of Carnivore (The Final Terror) starring a young Daryl Hannah, the sadly underappreciated Just Before Dawn, or the Do-It-Yourself gore fest Cannibal Campout?
Some films become tragic victims of the numbers, drowned in the ocean of titles we willingly swim through. Others are casualties of circumstance, shelved by studios and producers who didn’t understand them, lost to lack of interest as our home viewing technologies change, and even some that were just plain forgotten over the years. There are more titles out there than any single horror fan could ever have the time to see, let alone acquire. In spite of our most valiant efforts, we don’t always get to see everything we want to. Our individual tastes aside, we all have one thing in common. All horror fans love to come across that rare gem they’ve never even heard of, a proverbial lost treasure that, perhaps reluctantly, becomes a favorite.
Oh yeah, that’s what we live for.
Every Halloween a cavalcade of lists appear across the net appealing to horror fans recommending the same titles over and over and over again. As a horrifying holiday treat, I thought I might suggest a few films that aren’t quite so well known. My suggestions are for the horror fiend perpetually searching for that ever elusive blood soaked, diabolical celluloid-diamond. Doubtless there are some of you who have drooled over tales of these video nasties or have already seen them, but many others will be hearing of them for the very first time. To both sects of terror enthusiasts, I say: see them. Enjoy them. And though well-worn VHS bootleg sharing is a relic of the past, pass the recommendation along if even by social networking status update. There’s always someone out there eager to hear about a nightmare they haven’t seen a dozen times before. Remember when that was you?
There are five weeks in October this year, and so I shall present you with five lists, a total of 31 films, as a guide to your discovery of obscure flicks you may not have even known existed. See them. Savor them. Tell us your thoughts. What obscure titles would you recommend? I, for one, am always on the lookout for a new nightmare. And don’t forget to suggest them to your friends, especially to the scardy cats. Without further ado, and with tongue-in-cheek excitement, let’s get this party started…
Week One: From Beyond The Grave
The living dead, ghouls, ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties… some of my favorite fears! We love all that goes bump in the night, don’t we? I’ll never forget being delighted by…er, I mean subjected to George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead at the local drive-in when I cuddled with a stuffed buffalo and was still sporting a fuzzy blue one-piece at bedtime. I’ve been fascinated by horror films ever since, and the craving for a good scare has never waned. I found a way to satiate my horror hungers with Elvira, Chiller Theatre, and a few other 80’s weekend shock-a-thons. Bring it on! I couldn’t get enough.
7. Shreck
Not to be confused with other similarly titled movies, Carl Denham’s clever weekend project is an odd underground gem. I bought my overpriced and poorly reproduced B’s Nest Video VHS copy years ago, but it is available as a supplemental feature on an out-of-print DVD for a film called Vengeance of the Dead. Shreck tells the tale of a group of friends with an unhealthy interest in Nazi war criminal Max Shreck who lived and died in the main character’s home. Cue the summoning ritual and the subsequent mayhem. The movie is better than it has any right to be. This basement production was obviously a labor of love. These guys were serious, and all things considered they made a good movie. It’s ahead of its time, foreshadowing several more recent mainstream efforts. You might be surprised what Hollywood is influenced by. It’s genuinely creepy and worth seeking out.
6. Savage Harvest
Eric Stanze’s 1994 backyard fright flick will greatly appeal to the horror aficionado. Obviously inspired by The Evil Dead, it is a bold, unapologetic bloodbath, one that transcends its inspiration. Stanze makes smart use of whatever he had at his disposal: locations, home video footage of a natural disaster, and an enthusiastic gathering of friends. Sure, it suffers from subpar acting, but horror fans have often overlooked such a shortcoming when presented with a solid, fun flick. Let’s face it, the acting in horror films, as in porn, is often incidental. Savage Harvest is indeed solid and fun. It is well-written, competently shot, nicely paced, and has disarming DIY effects genre fans will appreciate.
5. Spookies
Genie Joseph’s far-out freak fest from 1986 certainly had me scratching my head every time I watched it on USA Up All Night. Though it didn’t make much sense, I was fascinated by the cavalcade of creature effects. The film boasts witches, creepy cat critters, zombies, black widow transformations, and excrement demons that were clearly an inspiration for Kevin Smith years later when he would bash the world over the head with his classic film Dogma. There’s no substantial plot to speak of, but that doesn’t matter. This is a horror theme park attraction caught on celluloid and that’s why it’s so much fun.
4. The Club
For some inexplicable reason, prom is being held at a vast medieval castle. Don’t analyze, just go with it. While the students dance the night away, a homicidal rapist teacher stalks his teenage obsession, and worse, a demon walks among them searching for ways to dig his claws into a selection of beautiful young things. Among The Club’s many crazy offerings is cute little Matthew Ferguson confronting himself with his own secret fears involving self-hatred and a guillotine, a perverse sexual encounter that would make Gene Simmons jealous, and J.H. Wyman giving the world one of the most insanely over-the-top, yet incredibly accurate Jack Nicholson impersonations ever! The Club is one wild date you don’t want to turn down.
3. The Sandman
1995’s Best Outlaw Movie of the Year was The Sandman, a trailer park nightmare of epic proportions. I remember buying my VHS copy from a little ad in the back of Fangoria magazine and received a complimentary poster for being among the first to do so. Writer/director J.R. Bookwalter is better known for his underground classic zombie flick The Dead Next Door, but I think The Sandman is a much better genre offering. It’s more fun. It’s more original. And it’s infinitely more polished, yet it never loses its subversive charm. And the Sandman himself is creepy cool, the epitome of the shadowy beast we all knew lurked under our childhood beds.
2. Demon Wind
Among the multitude of rip-offs of…I mean movies paying homage to The Evil Dead, there’s Gut Pile, Damned by Dawn, and of course Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn. Demon Wind is one of the very best. The story is simple, an existentially lost young man drags his friends with him on his angst-ridden quest to learn who and what he is. Into danger they all happily wander, his friends becoming fodder for demons and the undead. It’s a whacky procession of nifty monsters that will inspire your very own drinking game. The film is widely noted for the blink-and-you’ll-miss-him Lou Diamond Phillips cameo. You know you don’t wanna miss that! It’s worth a few shots all by itself.
1. Session 9
I am constantly shocked when I find out someone doesn’t know about this film. The story is deceptively simple. It is also a thoroughly effective one, so successful in fact that it scared the hell out of me. As soon as the credits began to roll, I was up and checking/locking every door and window in the house. It was the first time I’d done that since I was a kid. Session 9 is the kind of horror movie we dream of finding among the masses, one that is genuinely scary. A hazardous-materials cleanup crew is contracted to remove the asbestos from a monolithic asylum abandoned since the 80s. During their deadly duties, they begin to experience the building’s haunted soul, an evocative entity stalking them through the endless shadowy corridors. It is at once a psychological fright fest, but also a spectacularly terrifying ghost story. A must see for the supernatural aficionado.
Week Two: A Laugh in the Dark
Horrific comedies have entertained us throughout the years. Many of Hollywood’s finest have appeared in frightmares designed to make our skin crawl and tickle our funny bones. Lauren Bacall and Jim Carey had delightful chemistry in Once Bitten. A dreamy all-star cast highlights the stellar pop-culture-eviscerating remake of The Stepford Wives. Even Stephen King likes to dabble in the darkest corners of comedy, his performance in Creepshow is a thing of zany beauty, and his directorial debut Maximum Overdrive is just a hell of a lot of stupid fun. This week I’d like to suggest some little-known ghoulish goodies, movies that are sure to viciously amuse you even as they ludicrously rip your heart out.
6. The Bloody Video Horror that Made Me Puke on my Aunt Gertrude
It’s a title that makes you stop dead in your tracks and wonder. I simply couldn’t resist placing my order after seeing it advertized in the back of Fangoria. It has a storyline that has been repeated throughout the years among underground movie makers, but director John Bacchus has his tongue firmly planted in his quivering cheek. A killer rents a video camera, shoots a snuff film, and returns the camera with the tape still inside. In an effort to get it back, a bumbling bloodbath ensues. It’s bad, bad, bad. But the cast and crew behind it are all very well aware of that. They are in on their own joke, and that’s what makes it so fun and entertaining. The movie begs for MST 3000 treatment during inebriated viewings with friends. My old VHS gets pulled out on occasion for just this reason.
5. Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter
Years before Abraham Lincoln jumped on the proverbial bandwagon, Jesus Christ took up the reigns of hunter of the undead in this kung-fu, musical, horror, comedy hybrid. It’s completely offensive, which is of course the point. As is prophesized, Christ returns to Earth. His heavenly duties are put on hold, however, because it seems he must contend with an army of fangers who can strut around during the day. Joining forces with a Mexican wrestler, Jesus Christ begins to take names and kick some undead ass. It’s the bloodiest musical since Cannibal!: the Musical. Check it out, you know you want to.
4. Full Moon High
Blatantly plagiarized four years later in a dreadfully unfunny mainstream film, this 1981 horror farce told the story of a high school jock with a bad case of lycanthropy. There are moments of slapstick that will make you laugh out loud. It has a charming cast, particularly a young Adam Arkin in an engaging early performance, and it’s written/directed by genre maestro Larry Cohen. Need I say more?
3. The Selling (of Scarry Manor)
Emily Lou’s Kickstarter-funded horror comedy is a wildly imaginative homage to all the great paranormal films we know and love. Eat your proverbial heart out Hollywood, this blows every weak episode of Scary Movie and its monotonous kin away. This is how it’s done! Tricked into buying a haunted house, terminally-honest real estate agent Richard Scarry has a hell of a time trying to unload the spook-infested abode before the investment and its otherworldly residents put him in his own grave. It’s a feverishly fun, creepily comedic ride elevated even further by an appealing performance from the remarkably talented Gabriel Diani.
2. Potential Sins
No underground filmmaker has been so unjustly ignored as Michael Legge, in my humble opinion. He deserves a bigger fan base, and his films deserve to be widely released and seen by the adoring masses. He’s the creator of the backyard comedies Loons, Working Stiffs, and Cutthroats, but his magnum opus is without a doubt the extraordinarily hysterical, morbidly twisted Potential Sins. I love this movie! It’s well-written and perfectly cast, two key factors in creating a winning comedy. It tells the tale of a suicidal man forced to deal with an unwanted surprise party in his honor on the very night he’d planned to shuffle off this mortal coil. If that’s not crazy enough, add a homicidal malcontent, a corralled prostitute, worried priest, and even The Grim Reaper to the shenanigans. Michael Legge’s Potential Sins is a lot of fun.
1. Curse of the Queerwolf
If the title didn’t already clue you in on the maniacal madness of this film, please allow me to fill you in on the hysteria. Parodying the timeless tale of the wolf man, Curse of the Queerwolf is the story of Larry’s bizarre homophobic plight after being bitten by a mean old transvestite. Destined to himself become a “queerwolf,” Larry is plagued by warped nightmares involving hillbillies, murderous torch bearers, and a peculiar doctor. Michael Palazzolo’s performance is perfection. It anchors an outrageously fun, feverishly offensive, and thoroughly entertaining film. This movie is hysterical. Leave all your politically correct inhibitions at the door, and just have a blast with Mark Pirro’s irreverent 80s classic Curse of the Queerwolf.
Week Three: The Furry and Fearful Fang Brigade
I’m a sucker for any werewolf film, from big budget Hollywood star vehicles like Wolf to masterpieces of horrific fantasy such as Company of Wolves to original yet bungling shot-on-video movies like Tale of the Urban Werewolf, I dig ‘em all. They are my favorite horror monster. Vampires are their more popular creepy colleagues. The world is filled with soft core porn disguised as vampy fare as well as brilliant art-house cinema crafted by masters of film, Neil Jordan and Francis Ford Coppola among others. Although one of my personal favorites, Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural, doesn’t appear here, you can read all about it at The Vampire Source. During this, our third chilling week of October, let us explore some lesser known movies that have all the bite you could ever want.
6. Dracula’s Widow
Emmanuelle star Sylvia Kristel sinks her teeth into the title role of Vanessa. Arriving at a Hollywood waxworks amidst a cache of antiquities from Romania, Dracula’s widow rises from her slumber seeking to sate her craving for human blood. Kristel proves why she was such a popular screen beauty, not only does the camera love her, but she’s undeniably captivating. Lenny von Dohlen is as handsome and charismatic as always. Director Christopher Coppola brilliantly infused his 80s work of art with the decade’s notorious new wave aesthetics. Dracula’s Widow is a compulsively enjoyable film waiting patiently for a devoted cult following to rise from the enthrallment of 80s nostalgia.
5. Wolf Moon
Werewolves are a rare commodity in horror, though there are a few direct-to-DVD offerings, we seldom get a film on par with the classics of yesteryear. We simply have to surrender to the notion we’ll never again see the likes of The Howling or An American Werewolf in London. That’s okay, those couldn’t possibly be equaled anyway. Still, shapeshifter fans like myself foam at the chops for a quality skinwalker film among the marauding runts of the pack. Wolf Moon, also known as Dark Moon Rising, is a surprisingly high-quality genre entry. Love went into this production, and it shows. It’s unexpectedly emotional, taking it’s time to build the story and conscientiously develop the characters. This is an adult horror film. Think of it as the werewolf equivalent of Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark.
4. Howling VI: The Freaks
I must confess, I have a soft spot for The Howling series. With the notable exception of the contemptible seventh entry, I genuinely like them all. By the time this, the sixth installment, hit video shelves most horror fans had understandably checked out. That was a mistake, this is the best of the sequels. Taking place in the sordid world of a traveling sideshow, Howling VI: The Freaks presents us with a host of the titular aberrations. Among them is a well-meaning, self-loathing drifter who becomes a man wolf when the full moon rises. Chained and forced to perform by the carnival’s proprietor, he comes to learn that he’s not the only monster in the world. In the end, he’ll do battle with another creature of the night and it’s an epic fight culminating in one of the most exciting open-ended finales in all of horrordom. Sadly, the producers of The Howling films completely ignored the potential and delivered a seventh film that was not only the worst of the series, but one of the worst films of all time. You may think I’m merely bitter, but I’m dead serious. It’s really that bad. New Moon Rising aside, The Freaks delivers and is a solid film, one I am sure would be liked by those who give it a chance.
3. The Dead Matter
Before the $2 million upgrade complete with a few familiar horror faces (Tom Savini, Andrew Divoff), there was a beguilingly good underground flick about an ancient vampire relic that had the power to control the dead. Admittedly, I have not seen the remake yet, but the original version was an exciting find all those years ago. Unlike most of its DYI kin, The Dead Matter was very well written, boasted a spectacular concept, and managed to be of epic proportions on a nearly non-existent budget. Edward Douglas is a talent to keep your eye on.
2. Jugular Wine: A Vampire Odyssey
Blair Murphy’s epic juggernaut is an independent film to be reckoned with, an ambitious project one can’t help but be awestruck by. On a sea voyage to Alaska, an anthropologist comes face to face with the alluring undead. He is bitten and slowly begins to transform into something unearthly. Desperate to uncover the secrets of this bold, fantastical underworld that undulates on the fringes of our own, he departs on a pilgrimage of horrors. But is he ready for what he’ll uncover? Not only does Jugular Wine have perhaps the coolest title in all of vampire cinema, it’s a fascinating journey, one very much worth taking.
1. Blood & Donuts
One of the most tragically underappreciated films of all time is Holly Dale’s unique take on vampires, the incomparable Blood & Donuts. Gordon Currie as Boya is perhaps the cutest, sexiest, most endearing vampire in cinematic history. Even though he stalks rats, slaughters people, and drinks his fair share of blood, you can’t help but fall in love with this particular creature of the night. He makes friends in spite of himself, and is fiercely loyal to them, a distinctive spin in and of itself. Helene Clarkson received a Genie Award nomination for best actress in her amazingly nuanced turn as Molly. Justin Lewis (Louis Ferreira) chews the scenery with an entertaining, Christopher Walken inspired performance. Expertly directed, masterfully written, and it features David Cronenberg in a costarring role. What more could you want? It’s a great movie. If you haven’t seen it, you simply must.
Week Four: Weird is as Weird Does
Lurking on the periphery of our beloved genre is a rogue gathering of films that defy explanation, flights of fancy whispered about in very particular circles. They are often the work of geniuses and mavericks, fearless artists offering the world nightmarish realms new and unexplored. The most popular voice would have to be the indomitable Alejandro Jodorowsky, a mastermind of the wonderful and the weird. His film Santa Sangre was so unapologetically different I don’t think mainstream audiences knew what to make of it. It remains a masterpiece regardless, his greatest cinematic achievement to date, and one of the best horror films ever made. But what are some other wonderfully weird films? I’m so glad you asked.
6. Zombie Toxin
Thomas J. Moose is one messed up dude! Hitler, flying homicidal beer bottles, a B&D/S&M torture palace that would make Eli Roth drool and nauseous at the same time, and zombies. Can’t forget the zombies. Rarely do we get to see zombies fight each other. Not only does this UK filmmaker rectify this, he features a rectum. He makes damn sure we’ll never forget his sordid and disgusting vision. I still have nightmares. I pre-ordered this sight unseen upon its initial release in the good old U.S. of A. I even received a nice, pleasant phone call from the distributor explaining the reason for the delay in shipment…it was getting a nice “spiffy new cover box.” He really praised the film, and I couldn’t wait. I was promised an experience like no other, and that’s exactly what I got. I’m sure your curiosity is piqued as was mine, just prepare yourself for anything. Author’s warning: Don’t eat lunch.
5. Insaniac
John Specht and Robin Garrels’s Insanic is indeed a pretentious shot-on-video outing, but in the exact same way David Lynch’s films are. This is a descent into the goth subculture that many lesser films have desperately tried to be. Not even Hollywood with its bottomless pocket research can get it right. Never send a poser to do a goth’s job! Insaniac gets it right in all of its profoundly pompous peculiarity. It is authentic. It’s populated with real people, not transient actors afraid and unsure. There are layers beneath layers, a virtual cornucopia of symbolisms not usually found in such no-budget affairs (and rarely found in mega-budget dreck, for that matter). An amnesiac seeks hypnosis to explore her broken mind in an attempt to recover what she’s lost, memories of a blood-drenched past. Just as Lynch’s films are endlessly re-watchable, so is Insaniac. It’s brooding, baffling, and a labyrinth worth taking a stroll through.
4. Dr. Caligari
It’s a psychosexual art-house flick conjuring memories of German surrealism unheard of in today’s mainstream cinema. To call it unique would be an understatement, and perhaps even an insult. It’s disturbing. It’s sick. It’s the mangled mess of a mindscape created by fear-mongering anti-sex campaigns in the Deep South. Praise Jesus! You have never seen anything like this. It’s endlessly quotable, filled with nudity, sexual grotesqueries, and moments of insanity that will shock the hell out of you. Your jaw will hit the floor more than once, not just because of the imagery (that includes actress Laura Albert making out with a giant venereal-disease-riddled tongue), but also because of the perversely clever dialogue. Dr. Caligari is midnight smut on a grand scale, endlessly fascinating and diabolically genius.
3. Wax: or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees
You might think that the bizarre title says it all, but you’d be wrong. It’s near impossible to describe this film without writing a textbook length treatise; even then it would simply be too simple and thus an injustice to this film. So much is going on and seemingly all at once. It’s a caravan of information and exposition as mesmerizing as it is overwhelmingly confusing. David Blair’s surreal odyssey has received critical and academic acclaim, but has yet to secure a much deserved spot in the hearts of audiences. See it. Show it to others. Talk about it. This is an experimental film that will remind you of your wildest, most mystifying dream.
2. Ice from the Sun
Eric Stanze is a titan in the world of underground cinema. His movies always rise above the competition because of their strong stories, quality writing, and innovative craftsmanship. Ice from the Sun is a stunning work of art. It is an imaginative, epic tale of angels, demons, magicians, and metropolises entombed in ice. D.J. Vivona, who has literally come of age in front of Stanze’s lens, is pitch-perfect as The Presence. He is handsome. He is menacing. He is utterly fearless. His bold performance elevates the movie exponentially. Esoteric, profound, and truly like no other motion picture experience before it, this is an art-house horror must-see!
1. Ink
Two opposing forces roam the ethereal fringes of our world weaving either our most optimistic dreams or our most fiendish nightmares. Between them wanders the weird entity known as Ink, a child-thief with enigmatic ambitions. Jamin Winans’s inspired indie nightmare is the best hallucinatory fantasy since the grim birth of Wes Craven’s dream demon, Freddy Krueger. It dares to be different yet widely appealing and it succeeds on both levels masterfully. The visuals are astonishing, my favorite being Ink’s awe-inducing sprint up an invisible staircase in the middle of a dark residential neighborhood. This is the reason movies exist, to steal us away to other realms, to hypnotize us, to capture our imaginations, to entertain. Jamin Winans’s Ink does all that and so much more.
Week Five: Blood, Guts, and a Whole Lot More!
Splatter flicks. Gross out pictures. Blood feasts. The ever popular slasher movies. They dominate the genre and have remained perennial favorites throughout the decades. Some definitive classics frightened the world in the 70s, Halloween, The Wizard of Gore, and Last House on the Left. We fell in love with scream queens, Jamie Lee Curtis, Linda Blair, and the legendary Karen Black. Horror fan favorites Wes Craven, Dario Argento, and John Carpenter came to prominence in that blood-drenched decade. But the 80s gave birth to some of our greatest and most enduring villains. Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and even the demonic Pinhead dominated the decade. In the late 90s, serial killers slashed their way to the top of the boxoffice charts with a vengeance thanks to the post-modern brilliance of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and even the campy fun of Urban Legend. In a field as popular as this, are there really any that anyone hasn’t heard of? Yes. Allow me to present to you…
6. Crinoline Head
Years ago, whenever I would see a little Mom & Pop video store during my travels, I would stop on in and have a look around. Unlike chains, these establishments tended to carry more obscure titles. Their horror film selections were usually quite impressive. One family store I recall had created a nightmarishly themed back room for their horror section. It looked like a haunted house, complete with a creepy porch, skewed door, and raised, backlit flooring that creaked as you walked. It was amazing, certainly any horror fan’s dream come true. Among the rare, weirdo offerings I found a worn VHS cover box for a little movie called Crinoline Head. I practically threw my money at the clerk. I was further amused by a cemetery located behind the counter, each headstone naming a rival video store that had opened shop nearby only to soon go out of business. Are you kidding me? Fabulous! But, I digress. Crinoline Head is pure DIY schlock, but surprisingly entertaining with a nice little twist.
5. The Dead Link
Amateur treasure hunters discover the body of some kind of freakish monster while trekking through the appropriately named Superstition Mountains. The excitement of their find, and the possibility of banking on it, blind them to the potential dangers they face until a ghostly presence begins to wage war on them and their minds. Blurring the line between reality and hallucination, Ben Juhl’s The Dead Link is a cool, surprisingly competent backyard epic. I particularly liked the weird spider hybrid creature thingy.
4. Hardcore Poisoned Eyes
Sal Ciavarello sets up his subversive classic as many slasher films before have been, young nubile beauties steal away a weekend in the sticks. This, however, is where any similarities with past films end. The film becomes a macabre descent into fear, a genuinely horrific experience reminiscent of hallucinatory freak fests from the 60s and 70s. There are images and moments that would make David Lynch proud. Ciavarello is a sadly undernourished talent, a radical underground alternative to Dario Argento. Hardcore Poisoned Eyes is very well-written, the directing is inspired, and the acting is above par. Highly recommended.
3. 5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas
Italian slasher flicks of the 70s and early 80s have a devoted following among horror fans, I love them especially the bizarre giallos of Dario Argento, Francesco Barilli, and Mario Bava. The more bizarre, the more esoteric and surreal – the better! We don’t see much of them these days. With the notable exception of Rob Zombie’s masterpiece The Lords of Salem, they’ve become unfortunate relics of the past. But dwelling just below the radar is 5 Dead on the Crimson Canvas, Joseph F. Parda’s 1996 throwback to those surreal films of yesteryear. It pays perfect homage (even playing with the audio dubbing to reverence the familiar dreamlike feel of those bygone films) while granting us a disturbing and original motion picture.
2. Tourist Trap
David Schmoeller’s nightmarish slasher flick starring Chuck Connors is one hell of a movie. It’s brutal. It’s twisted. It aims not just to make you squirm form the relentless slaughter, it tosses in one of the most bizarre twists in the realm of horror. The killer has telekinesis and a deeply disturbing fetish for mannequins, loving nothing more than to psychically puppet them as he stalks, tortures, and murders his hapless prey. You MUST see Tourist Trap!
1. Fear No Evil
I’ve always believed this movie deserves more recognition than it has received. Frank LaLoggia, the director of the widely loved Lady in White, tore the horror competition to shreds with this brilliantly conceived tale of demons, angels, and zombies. Throughout the ages, Lucifer is resurrected in an endless bid for mankind’s destruction. Resurrected too are three warrior angels ordained to keep the demon lord from his goal. The movie is fearlessly blasphemous (the audience of a passion play is sent straight to hell), yet at times pious and inspirational (angelic imagery and poetic narrations of beatific promises) making for a perplexing, multifaceted outing. In the annals of horror, Fear No Evil stands out in so many ways. The story is fantastic. The writing is incredibly good. The directing is amazing. The exterior footage has a sweeping grandeur, rural decay perfectly captured, castle-like estates on the shoreline are granted medieval beauty, and there are skillfully lit nighttime confrontations. The interior shots capture a brutally realistic intimacy, especially in unexpectedly poignant moments depicting Lucifer’s corroding family. Frank LaLoggia sadly hasn’t given us many films, but what he has offered the world are genuine genre classics. Fear No Evil is phenomenal.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this Halloween journey through the lesser known corridors of horror, and I certainly hope you’ve found a few films among them that have piqued your interest in the obscure sending you on an irrevocable plunge into the murky waters of underground horror cinema. There’s so much more out there to discover, movies just waiting for you to love them. Remember to have fun, and always share your finds.
DarkMedia contributor Joshua Skye’s short stories have appeared in anthologies from STARbooks Press, Knightwatch Press, Sirens Call Publications, Rainstorm Press, JMS Books and periodicals such as Blood and Lullabies. He is the author of “The Singing Wind,” “Bareback: A Werewolf’s Tale,” “Midnight Rainbows,” the forthcoming “The Grigori,” and “The Angels of Autumn.” You can find him on his website.
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