5 More Horror Movie Moms

**Please note that there may be spoilers throughout the blog**

Mom's can be terrific but sometimes they can be really scary!  Especially when they're trying to protect or defend their children.  We've all heard the tale of the women who lifted a car to save her baby, we'll the movies that I found, the mom's here would not only move the car but kill the driver inside as well.  These twisted moms might take it a step to far to keep their children safe whether they like it or not.

Here are 5 More Mom Horror Movies



5. Mommy (1995) - Mrs. Sterling has to go to her daughter Jessica Ann's school to talk to a teacher about Jessica Ann not winning the "Outstanding Student Award".  Even though Jessica Ann doesn't care about winning the award and is happy that the other child has won; Mrs. Sterling wants to convince the teacher to give the award to Jessica instead.  Mrs. Sterling asks Jessica to wait outside in the playground and then goes to visit the teacher.  The teacher is on a ladder hanging decorations when Mrs. Sterling walks in and starts complaining about Jessica Ann losing the award to some Mexican boy.  After hearing Mrs. Sterling complaints, the teacher tells her that the decision has been made and there isn't anything Mrs. Sterling can do about it. So, Mrs. Sterling pushes the teacher off the ladder and then breaks the teacher's neck.  Mrs. Sterling reports to the principal that she found the teacher dead when she got there and they all wait for the police.
  After they get home from talking with the police, Mrs. Sterling's sister, Beth and Mrs. Sterling's boyfriend, Mark welcome them home.  Jessica Ann thinks about how she misses her step-father and her dad because they're both dead and starts thinking maybe their deaths weren't accidents.  Over the next couple days, the police will not let on the murder investigation and the janitor tells Jessica that she is going to the police to rat out her mother.  Bad idea.  Jessica tells her mother and shortly after the janitor has an "accident".  Jessica now realizes that her mom is a killer but how can she convince her mom to stop killing people, especially the ones she loves?
  This movie just dragged on and on for me.  I really liked the premise of the child from the movie "The Bad Seed" is all grown up and having Patty McCormack reviving her character but with such a weak script, it was painful to watch.  The pacing was terrible and there were far too many emotional chats with people.  There aren't too many deaths and the ones that are here are nothing to write home about.  For such a low budget film, I was surprised at how dry the film was and the humour seemed to be sucked right out of the film.  Dull, dull film and I heard the sequel to this was worse.  For some reason, Blogger can't find this trailer, so here is a link to it.

Mommy (1995) Trailer

4. Mom (1991) - Emily Dwyer is a kind old lady who lives alone and has a room to rent.  It just so happens that a blind angry vagrant named Nestor is looking for a room, so it's a perfect match!  On the first night, Emily makes a nice meal for them but Nestor tells her that he would rather eat out, but like most old ladies, Emily won't take no for an answer.  Unfortunately, Nestor is a werewolf and he attacks Emily for being pushy.  No means no, grandma!  After a few days, Emily's son, Clay gets worried about not hearing from his mom and goes to check up on her with his pregnant girlfriend, Alice.  When they get to the door, nobody answers the knock, so Clay uses his key and Nestor stops him there and asks what is he doing?  They introduce themselves and Nestor explains that Emily hasn't been feeling well lately.  Clay runs upstairs to check on his mom and he finds her in the bedroom... resting.  She apologizes for making Clay worry and she tells him how Nestor has been taking good care of her.  Clay goes downstairs, apologizes to Nestor for being an ass and then he and Alice see themselves out.
  The next night on his way home from work, Clay decides to swing by his moms place to see how she's feeling.  As he's arriving, he sees Nestor and his mom going for a drive.  He follows them downtown and watches them talking to homeless people. They take one of them for a meal and after supper, they bring the homeless person into an alley.  Clay gets out of his car and follows them, only to see his mom killing and eating the homeless person!  WTF?!  How can he stop his mom and Nestor from eating people?
  This was better than I thought it was going to be.  It's kind of quirky and fun but again it's a little longer than it should be and can drag a bit.  Jeanne Bates (Eraserhead, Mullholland Drive) is excellent as the mom and it's pretty funny to see this nice old lady attack people and eat them.  Also, Brion James (Blade Runner, The Fifth Element) is pretty great as the misunderstood werewolf.  Even though he seems to target and mutilate only pregnant women, he has a heart of gold. I think that's kind of funny.  The issue I have with the film is that it doesn't know what kind of monster it's dealing with because Nestor is a Werewolf but after he bites Emily, she's sometimes a werewolf and sometimes a ghoul.  It's weird and confusing but adds to the B-Movie laughter.   Anywhoooo, it's a fun little time waster and if you see it, you'll be pleasantly surprised.  No trailer, here's a clip.

3. Straight Jacket (1964) - Lucy Harbin returned early from a trip to find her husband in bed with another woman! Sooooo, she grabbed an axe and decapitated the both of them, not knowing that her young daughter, Carol was watching!
  20 years later, Carol has been living on a farm with Lucy's brother, Bill and his wife, Emily and has lived a pretty normal life.  She's a sculptress, has a rich boyfriend/secret fiancee, Michael and is excited that her crazy mom is coming home.  When Lucy arrives, she is nervous but after being welcomed back with loving arms by her family, she starts to settle in nicely.  Carol shows her around the farm and even takes her out shopping for a new dress and wig(?).  The next day, Carol introduces Lucy to her secret fiancee, Michael and there are some seriously awkward moments with Lucy hitting on Carol's boyfriend.  So, Carol cuts the visit short and they leave for the afternoon.  Just after the leave, Lucy's doctor from the sanitarium drops by on his way fishin' to see how she's doing.  Unfortunately, this sets Lucy off and the doctor tells Bill and Emily that he'll have to drive Lucy back to the sanitarium because she is still crazy, sorry.  Angry and afraid Lucy runs off into the farm.  While looking for Lucy, the doctor loses his head, literally because he is decapitated in the barn.  Has Lucy gone back to chopping off heads and if so, who's next?
  This was a pretty fun film.  Directed by William Castle (13 Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill) and starring Joan Crawford (Trog, Berserk), who in the later part of her career choose to do a lot of strange horror films.  No matter, she is still great in this film as a crazy woman trying to protect her daughter.  I was surprised at how violent this film is for the year it came out.  The special effects are not realistic but there are a number of decapitations that are pretty enjoyable to watch.  A young Lee Majors makes his first appearance on film in this but he's not in it very long and is uncredited.  All and all, if you like William Castle's work, you'll like this.  It has it's own charm and Joan Crawford with an axe is truly terrifying.

2. Mama (2013) - Years after his brother, Jeffery went crazy killing his ex wife, business partners and kidnapping his two daughters, Lucas has not given up the search to find them.  His cheques are starting to bounce but he has one last team of hunters looking and today is his lucky day.  These bumbling hunters end up catching a glimpse of Jeffery's abandoned car while taking a piss and follow a trail to an empty cottage sitting abreast to a beautiful lake.  They go inside and discover a mountain of cherry pits and two feral girls ready to attack them from the top of a moldy fridge.  So, they slowly back out of the house and call Lucas.
  Lucas and his musician girlfriend, Annabel go to the hospital and meet with Dr. Dreyfuss to talk about the girls, Victoria and Lilly.  After a very brief consultation, they let Lucas in to see the girls and he gives Victoria a pair of glasses that she desperately needs but survived without for 5 years.  Now that she can see, she thinks Lucas is her dad but he lets her know that he's her uncle but a bond has formed.  How touching.  Lucas and Annabel have to go to court to gain custody because the mean old Aunt doesn't think an out of work graphic artist and a musician in a small apartment downtown would be good place for these emotionally scarred girls to live right now. Bitch!  But Dr. Dreyfuss strikes a deal with them and if he can have access to the girls and study them, Lucas and Annabel can have a free house.  Deal!
  Annabel quits her band and they all move into the suburbs but once they're there, they notice that the girls are acting strange and are talking to someone or something at night.  Dr. Dreyfuss looks into this and it turns out that during the 5 years they lived alone in the woods, they came up with a "Fictional" character named Mama to look after them and Dr. Dreyfuss thinks Victoria may be pretending to be her.  However, after another session with Victoria, Dr. Dreyfuss looks into the story of Mama that Victoria told her and discovers that it could be real.  Back at the house though there's trouble!  Something or someone nearly cripples Lucas by tossing him down the stairs, so now Annabel must take care of these kids while Lucas is in a coma and she may have to fight a supernatural entity at the same time!
  I wasn't too crazy about this film.  I really like the idea but there are some issues with the story that didn't make sense and the second half of the film the director really should have gone with a less is more mentality.  I think the Mama character is good until you see her.  As a dark shadow, or a whisper in the room but when you see her, she becomes a generic monster faced creature that moves the same way monsters have to move since Ringu and it really loses it's bite factor.  Also, I noticed that even though it's night time, there is a lot of light coming from outside, which is confusing. I noticed the same thing in "Insidious" as well and it drove me nuts.  Like I said earlier, there are some creepy scenes but I feel the film loses its momentum near the middle and I really didn't like how they wrapped it up at the end.  Other people really seem to dig it, so give it a shot if you want but I just thought it could have been a lot better.

1. Mother's day (1980) - Three former college friends, Abbey, Jackie and Trina get together for their annual retreat.  This year the girls are getting out of the city and going camping.  Unfortunately, they've chosen a dangerous spot in the woods and are attacked by 2 hillbillies, Ike & Addley and stuffed into their own sleeping bags, then dragged back to their house.  Back at the house, they find the hillbillies mother pulling the strings and giving the order to her boys.  She is training the boys to be the best rapist/serial killers ever and now they have three new victims to practice with. I guess, you gotta have goals and prcatice makes perfect.  Can these city girls escape these backwoods hillbillies or are they destined to die in the beauty of nature?
  This was actually pretty good and I really enjoyed it.  It was written, directed and produced by Charlie Kaufman, bother of Lloyd Kaufman, head honcho of Troma and it not only was despised by Roger Ebert for it's violence, gore, rape and torture scenes but it also got banned from by the BBFC but wasn't considered a Video Nasty.  There isn't really anything groundbreaking, the acting isn't fantastic or the story doesn't make you want to be a better person but it's a got a a lot of violence and there is a funny twist at the end that will make you smile.  If you like Troma, this one's for you and if you don't then it's you're loss. 

  


After seeing these films, you realize that sure your mom can be pushy and bossy sometimes but she'll always be in your corner and at least she's not murdering people.  So send her some flowers, maybe some chocolates and give her a hug because I'm sure if you did want someone knocked off, she would loan you the shovels and have hot coffee for you after a cold night of digging a shallow grave. Thanks mom!

5 Mexican Horror Movies

**Please note that there may be spoilers throughout the blog**

Mexico has been noted for many things over the years, amazing food, wonderful beaches and resorts and a vibrant history but very little is heard of their incredible cinema.  Unfortunately, with the exception of a few directors like Guillermo del Torro, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and a handful of others, I haven't heard of that many Mexican films, especially horror films, outside of the insane B-movies that Gordon K. Murray brought back and the wrestling films with Santo, the Blue Demon.  So, I thought I'd start to explore Mexican Horror cinema and see what I could come up with. 

Here are 5 Mexican Horror Movies



5. El Baron del Terror (aka Brainiac) (1962) - It's 1661 and Baron Vitelius of Astara is on trial for a laundry list of offenses that the church will not stand for.  His only friend, Marcos Miranda tries to sway the inquisition, but their minds are made up already and want to burn the Baron.  Just as the inquisitors set the flame to the bound Baron, a comet passes by overhead and the Baron screams that he will return, like the comet in 300 years and kill the ancestors of all who have judged him.
  300 years later, Reinaldo Miranda and his lady, Vicky are off to the observatory to see Professor Milan about finding a star.  When they get there, Milan is looking for a comet that is suppose to pass over them again like it did 300 years ago.  Eventually, Vicky finds the comet on the telescope and Reinaldo sees something break loose from it and come crashing down to Earth.  He convinces Vicky to go with him and off they go searching for comet debris.  How fun!
  Unfortunately, the comet debris ends up being the Baron, who has returned to get his vengeance on the people who have judged him. However, 300 years on a comet makes a Demon/Sorcerer/Man peckish, so he changes into a weird demon with a long tongue form and starts sucking the brains out of a young policeman.  When he finishes, the Baron runs into Reinaldo and Vicky, then tells them he didn't see any debris over there and that they shouldn't go look, so Reinaldo and Vicky beleive him and go home.  The Baron spends no time waiting and invites all the ancestors to a party at his masion(?) and begins planning his revenge!  He starts with the ancestor of the head inquisitor and his daughter.  He eats their brains then sets them on fire. Payback's a bitch, yo, and then continues through his list of unsuspecting victims.  After a number of murders that obviously tie back to the Baron's party, the police are stumped and little does Reinaldo know is that Vicky may be next on his new friend's list.  Can anyone stop him?
  This movie is hilarious!  If you enjoy Mystery Science Theatre, Ed Wood films or absurd 50's films then you'll love this.  You have to hand it to producer and distributor, Gordon K. Murray because he found to real treasure trove of these films down in Mexico, like the Santa Claus film (1959) and the Aztec Mummy series.  The script is over written, especially in the first scene, the acting is terrible and the mask for the monster is so crazy!  I love it!  This movie is weird, fun and only clocks in over an hour, so it's definitely worth having a watch.

4. La Tía Alejandra (aka Aunt Alejandra) (1979) - After Rodolfo's grandmother dies, Aunt Alejandra comes to live with him and his family.  At first his wife, Lucia is very excited because Aunt Alejandra is wealthy and their bills are piling up but Rodolfo doesn't want anything to do with her money.  Two of the children, Andres and Marta are happy about Aunt Alejandra moving in but Malena, the oldest is suspicious and becomes more concerned when she walks in on Alejandra performing a some sort of black mass ritual.You really should knock first.
  Things start to go really bad, when Andres leaves a roller skate on the stairs and Aunt Alejandra trips on it and hurts her hip.  It's not to long after Andres dies from a similar incident, his neck breaks when he falls down the stairs on his skates.  With the family in grieving, Malena thinks she is the one that must stop the evil old woman, but how can she prove that her aunt is a witch and save her family?
  This was good but pretty straight forward.  Isabela Corona is fantastic Aunt Alejandra, she plays it to the tee.  She doesn't want to be a bother, wants to help financial and gets her feathers ruffled pretty quickly if she doesn't get what she wants.  There are so graphic scenes but really it just kind of plods along and nothing really gets settled until it's too late.  Not a great film but a better witch film than I've seen in a while. Also at one point puppets attack people, so it does get points for that.  Sorry, I can't find a trailer but the complete film isn't hard to find.

3. Hasta el Viento Tiene Miedo (aka Even The Wind is Afraid) (1968) - Claudia has a terrible nightmare.  She dreams about hearing her name being called in the darkness and when she gets up to search out the voice, she finds a girl hung by her neck beside her bed.  Then she wakes up in her bed in the all girls school and starts screaming in terror.  The doctor finally calms her down and tells the Bernarda, the Principal that Claudia should stay in bed and rest for the day but the evil old bruja sends her to class within the hour.
  Claudia goes to class and with her gaggle of friends, when they come across a tower that is usually locked.  One of the girls convinces the rest that they should go inside and look around but when they do Claudia recognizes the inside of the tower from her dream!  She tells the girls that there is a door at the top of the stairs and it's painted red.  Her friends call bullshit on her and they all go up the never ending stairs to prove her wrong.  When the get to the top, the door is red but Principal Bernarda catches the girls in the abandonded tower.  Bernarda revokes their week vacation pass and forces them to do school work during the vacation time.
  Over vacation week, Claudia is still having nightmares and other girls think they may be seeing things in the dark as well.  Eventually, Lucia, the Vice Principal tells the girls that one of her favourite students hung herself in the tower.  Is Claudia and her friends seeing the ghost of this girl and what does it want from her?
  This was pretty good, reminded me a lot about giallo picture from Italy but without all the blood.  The story is good but I think it could be trimmed a little.  There is a lot of unnecessary scenes in the school about boyfriends and at times looks more like a teen soap, then a horror movie.  Not a lot violence and but there there are some creepy scenes for sure.  If you like your horrors with a little mystery than you may enjoy this one. 

2. Santa Sarge (1989) - Fenix is a feral young man who lives in a sanitarium.  Inside his padded cell, he has a fake tree to climb on and a basket to sleep in.  During an interview with the sanitarium doctors, Fenix flashes back to when he was a young boy and lived with the circus.  He remembers that his father was a drunk, womanizing, knife thrower and his mother, Concha is a religious zealot who's temple was going to be destroyed.  He remembers, her and her flock stood outside and blocked the bulldozers from crushing the building while waiting for a priest to come and give them a reprise.  But when the priest arrives, it's no church like he's ever seen and Fenix's mother is worshiping a saint that she created.  The saint is a girl who had both her arms cut off and was raped and now Fenix's mother believes that her blood fills the swimming pool in the temple.  The priest shakes his head and Fenix watches the bulldozer destroy his mother's temple, which almost her kill inside it.  Back at the circus, Fenix hangs out with his only friends, Alma, a girl his age but who is deaf and dumb and Aladin, a little person.  Alma's caregiver is the tattooed lady, who has peaked the interest in Fenix's father.  During a performance, Concha sees her husband and the tattooed lady sneak away out of the tent.  She stops her performance and storms off looking for vengeance and locks Fenix up in the trailer.  She finds them in the back being intimate and attacks them but the tattooed lady escapes with a few cuts and hits the road with Alma.  Thinking that her husband has been fixed, literally, Concha leaves but he attacks her and cuts her arms off before he stumbles out and dies in front of Fenix.
  We come out of the flashback, we're back at the sanitarium and it's movie night.  A doctor leaves a group of inmates, including Fenix into the capable hands of a movie usher and takes off for the evening with his mom or date.  Once the doctor has left, the usher decides to give the group of mental patiants cocaine and takes them to a prostitute for some fun.  Fenix falls behind and sees the tattooed lady, who is also a prostitute now and follows her back to her house.  Fenix wakes up the next morning and hears his mother calling him outside.  He climbs his tree and looks out the window to see his mother, armless and calling him over.  He opens the window and escapes with his mother.  Now that they're together, Concha uses Fenix's arms to bring back her career and to get deadly revenge on anyone who comes between her and her son.  Can anyone save Fenix before it's too late?
   This movie is so insane, visually breathtaking and has some many great twists, it's not funny.  Director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, Holy Mountain) puts together these incredible surreal, twisted stories and makes them hauntingly gorgeous with his cinematographer.  More structured and cohesive than El Topo, this complex story is brilliant in capturing madness and bringing it to the forefront of horror.  There are some very violent and interesting scenes in this that shouldn't be passed up.  This is a strange enjoyable film that should be savored and not rushed through, so take your time.

1. The Devil's Backbone - In 1939, during the final year of the Spanish Civil War, a young boy named Carlos is brought to an all boys home because unbeknownst to him, his father has died in the war.  He is left with Dr. Casares and Carmen, who take care of the children in the orphanage.  They also have a large amount of gold hidden in their safe to fund the Republican Loyalist's who are fighting Franco.  Unfortunately, former orphan and now groundskeeper, Jacinto has been trying to steal this gold for a long time.
  Anyway, Carlos makes some friends and some enemies too.  Apparently, the resident bully, Jaime doesn't like Carlos and will do anything to get him in trouble.  One evening, after being woken up from ghostly noises, Carlos witnesses a poltergeist that knocks over a few water jugs and leaves a wet footprint.  This wakes the other boys up and Jaime is angry about his water and dares Carlos to get more water.  Carlos says he'll only go if Jaime goes with him, so they both head out and creep across the grounds to the kitchen.  Once inside the kitchen, Carlos tries to get his water but the ghost messes with him again, creating a racket that brings Jacinto to come and investigate.  Luckily, Jacinto doesn't find him but the ghost spooks the shit out of Carlos and he high tails it.  Can Carlos find out the mystery of the ghost and help the ghost find peace, so it can move on?
  I think this is one of my favourite Del Torro pictures, I remember seeing it in the theatre and enjoying it as much back then as I did seeing it now.  They do a nice job with the special effects on the ghost and I like they keep him back throughout the story, until he comes out in full force.  The story is really good and has some nice coming of age stuff going on for the young characters.  It'sa great ghost tale that will definitely spook you.  

These films have a lot of similarities to the Italian styles of films.  There is a lot of mystery but there doesn't seem to be a lot of gore, with the exception of Santa Sangre.  However, these were only a few of the films that I looked into and this is only the first step into a long journey of horror from across the border.  Pass me a bloody mojito, I may be here for a while.










 

5 Films about Houses of Horror

**Please note that there may be spoilers throughout the blog**

Every neighbourhood has them, a house that has been boarded up and has a scary reputation to it's name.  Neighbourhood tales of strange families or weird people that have lived in these houses, that never came out during the day or made bizarre sounds from their basements that could never be explained.  The kind of house where local kids knew to walk or peddle their bikes faster to get by or would dare their friends to ring the bell to see if you were chicken.  Everybody has passed by these houses, wondered about the rumors and may have even heard of someone disappearing from these houses of horrors.

Here 5 Films about Houses of Horrors:



5. The House of Seven Corpses (1974) - Director Eric Hartman is making a movie about a family that died in a creepy old house.  All seven members of the family were killed in some hideous way, which was somehow tied to their occult practices and Hartman wants to recreate it in his zombie movie.  Luckily, David, Hartman's assisstant was able to secure the location of the real house and everything is running smooth with the exception of the caretaker, Edgar ruining shots by interrupting because the scene is not acurate and his endless tours of the house.  While on one of these tours, David finds a old book on witchcraft and suggests Hartman use some of the incantations in the film, to give it a real taste of authenticity.  So in during the next scene, Hartman gets his leading lady, Gayle to really sell some of the lines David has found in the book.  Unfortunately, this raises a zombie, who is looking to feed on the souls of the living.  Can Hartman save his cast and crew from the undead and still keep his film under budget or is he doomed to be another victim in the house of the 7 corpses?
  The opening montage is pretty killer, it has the 7 murders of the original people in the house and the special effects crew did a good job on them.  I was also excited to see that John Carradine and John Ireland were in this and even though Carradine's role isn't huge, he still one of the only highlights for this film.  However, once the opening credits are over the film seems to slow down and drag.  There are some scenes that aren't necessary, like Carradine as the caretaker Edgar, explaining everything we just saw in the montage and them actually filming things with the exception of the scene for the incantation.  I think that the script could have been tightened up.  Also, the zombie shows up late in the film and when he does, his work is fast and done off camera and that would have been more interesting to see then some of the earlier scenes.  The ending is a little confusing and somewhat acceptable if you really stretch your imagination.  It's only 90 minutes but it feels much longer and you should only visit this house if you have extra time.  Cannot find a trailer of here's a clip.

4. House On The Edge of the Park (1980) - On the way home from a disco, Alex runs a young lady off the road and into a deserted park.  When she turns down his advances for love, he rape/strangles her and the steals her locket as a trophy.
  A few weeks later, Alex is working at his garage/parking lot and his dim friend Ricky runs in excited because he's finally going to go dancing in the club with his friend Alex.  Alex tells him that he needs to chill out and they're just about on their way to party.  As they are leaving a car pulls up and young couple, Tom and Lisa get out and ask Alex to look at their car because it's causing them some issues and making a funny sound.  Alex tells them that he's sorry and to bring it back tomorrow but Ricky, wanting to please Alex, says that he can look at it.  Tom pops the hood and Ricky starts looking for the issue.  Lisa tells Alex that they are going to a party with a few friends and they must get going soon because some of their friends are waiting.  Ricky fixes the car quickly and Alex refuses to take money but asks if they can go to the party with them in return for the work.  Tom and Lisa agree and they all head up to the cabin.
  When they get to the cabin, they are greeted by Tom and Lisa's friends, Howard, Gloria and Glenda, who offer them some drinks and turn on the music.  The upscale crowd are pleased to have some working class people to mingle with and right away Gloria starts dancing with Ricky.  This eventually turns into Ricky doing a strip tease while the yuppies egg him on, but Alex puts a stop to it and tells Ricky that they're making him look like an asshole.  Tom invites everyone to a game of poker and Ricky joins in with Howard and Glenda.  Gloria watches the game and Lisa decides to take a shower?  So, Alex follows her upstairs and helps her scrub herself, but not for long Lisa leaves him in the shower holding the soap.
  Frustrated Alex goes back downstairs and sees that Ricky is losing all of his money and these richies are making an ass out of him.  Fed up, Alex pulls a straight razor on everybody and forces them to play one more hand.  Ricky wins all of the money and then Tom and Howard attack Alex to disarm him.  Unfortunately, Alex gets the better of them and has Howard tied up and beats Tom senselessly.  Alex gives Ricky a bottle to use as a club and now this is Alex's type of party.  Can anyone of the party people stop Alex or are they all going to all victim to his sadistic rape fantasies?
  Director Ruggero Deodata (Cannibal Holocaust, Cut and Run) shot this in three weeks on a very limited budget and you can tell.  Although a good story with a terrific ending, the picture seems rushed and drags in areas that could have been better if given time to shoot.  David Hess (RIP) (Last House on the Left, Swamp Thing) brings the evil into the Alex character, like only David Hess can. Similar to the Krug character, Alex can be just as charming as he is dangerous.  The film is also ugly in the same way Last House on the Left is, and feels more like a sleazy sex film but this is where the terror is found.  You know what kind of person Alex is and what he's capable of, so you fear for the party guests.  There isn't a huge body count but there are some intense bloody scenes. The pacing is slow, the ending is good and if you like Deodata's work then you might want to look this one up.

3. The Old Dark House (1932) - It's a dark stormy night and the Wavertons, Philip and Margaret and their friend, Penderel are traveling across the back roads of Wales.  After narrowly avoiding a landslide the trio seek shelter in a, you guessed it, old dark house.  After banging on the door a number of times, it is finally answered by a the bearded mute caretaker named Morgan.  Luckily, the brother of the home owner, Horace Femm as well and invites them in.  The trio begs Horace if they can stay the night and he tells them, they probably can if his sister, Rebecca Femm allows them.  She comes downstairs and although she is almost deaf and old as the hills, she is still a spitfire.  After some humming and hawing she agrees to let them stay but there's no beds!  Rebecca takes Margaret upstairs to change and tells her some of the horrible going ons at the house.  Downstairs Horace, also tells the gentlemen of some tales about the creepy house.  Then after worrying their guests, it's time for dinner!  During dinner there is another large bang on the door and in come some more weary travelers, Sir William Porterhouse and his lady friend Gladys, the dancer.  The Femm's invite them to stay the night until the storm clears.
That night, mysterious things begin to happen and members of parties start disappearing.  Can the guests make it through the night in the Femm house or would the storm have been the safer choice to make?
  I really enjoyed The Old Dark House and unlike director James Whale earlier Frankenstein, this is a horror/comedy but still creepy none the less.  Boris Karloff shows up again as Morgan the caretaker, in full make up and still doesn't get to speak, which is humerous because Whale doesn't let him speak until he plays the Mummy.  Melvyn Douglas (The Changeling, The Tenant) is fantastic in this as the wisecracking bachelor and the Charles Laughton makes his first "Hollywood" film as the playboy with the heart of gold, Sir William Porterhouse.  The real star though is Ernest Thesiger, who plays Horace Femm.  He has such a creepy look to him and he shows such a range of emotions throughout this film, that I think he's quite brilliant and rather underrated as an actor.  The writing is sharp in that early film, quick back and forth way.  The banter sounds so natural, with so many good quips, puns and amusing insults, that it's sad to think that we've lost this kind of humour that is so clever over the years of cinema. There isn't a huge body count or a bunch of bloody scenes, but the horror comes from 5 strangers out of their elements and needing help to survive a terrible storm from a very peculiar family.  If you like old movies or looking into some classic horror then you'd enjoy this. Couldn't find a trailer, so here's a clip.

2. Legend of Hell House (1973) -Eccentric millionaire, Mr. Duetsch hires leading physicist, Dr. Lionel Barret to head up an investigation into whether or not there is life after death. Easy!  Mr. Duetsch is sending Dr. Barrett to the infamous Hell House with two other renowned psychics, Florence Tanner, a mental medium and Ben Fischer, a physical medium and the only surviving member of a previous expedition into Hell House.  Barrett has a week to come up with definitive proof or he will not be paid.
  The team arrives and Barrett's wife, Ann decides that she will join the team in their adventure in Hell House.  Once inside, Fischer explains that the house was owned by a horrible person named, Emeric Belasco, a six foot "Roaring Giant" of a man who used his wealth to humilated people and host perverse parties of the body and soul.  Fischer goes on to explain that, Hell House is the "Mount Everest" of haunted houses and that there are a number of spirits that have stayed in the house due to Belasco's twisted desires.
  The first night they settle in and everything seems okay but the next day, Florence does a reading and has an encounter with a boy spirit, who claims to be Belasco's son, Daniel.  The spirit even takes over her body and speaks through her telling them all to leave.  They do not heed the warning and they stay, but later on Dr. Barrett is attacked and almost killed by a poltergeist phenomenon.  Has this team bitten off more than they can chew and is Fischer going to be the only one to survive this investigation again or can they unlock the secret of the house and finally allow the soul of Belasco to rest?
  This was a excellent film and I would almost put it right up there with Poltergeist.  Almost.  I wasn't that crazy about the ending and thought it was a bit anticlimactic.  Which is disappointing because the ghost in the house is pretty evil and there are some pretty decent special effects in this movie.  The cast is great as well, Roddy MacDowell (Planet of the Apes, Fright Night) takes off his ape make up and plays Ben Fischer, Pamela Franklin (The Innocents, Satan's School For Girls) is excellent as Miss Tanner and Clive Revill (Empire Strikes Back) as Dr. Barrett.  Scary film with lots of good twists and turns, that should keep you up at night after you see it. 

1. House of 1000 Corpses (2003) - A group of friends, Jerry, Bill, Mary and Denise are travelling across country and writing a book on interesting roadside attractions.  When they come across Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monster's and Madmen, they are in heaven!  Owned and operated by a grumpy man dressed as a clown, Captain Spaulding gives them a jokingly hard time and lets them in on a local legend called Dr. Satan.  He even gives them a map to visit the tree where he was this ruthless maniac was hanged.  After going through the Murder Ride, which is an old time carnival ride that displays serial killers throughout the ages, Jerry is super excited to visit the hanging tree of Dr. Satan.  So, the gang load into the car and hit the road in the pouring rain but before they go, Denise calls her father, just to let him know where she is and they should be home soon.  On the way there, they pick up a gorgeous hithhiker, named Baby who tells them that she knows exactly where the Dr. Satan tree is and she can lead them right to it.  Unfortunately, they get a flat but that's ok, cuz Baby's house is close and she can have her brother Rufus fix their tire.  So they head to Baby's house and when they get there, Baby lets them know that she nailed all the dolls to the wall on the outside of the house.  Weird, but okay, they go in and are greeted by, Mother Firefly, an aged beauty who still seems to enjoy young men.  Mother Firefly invites them all to dinner and the gang slowly meets the rest of the family, like Tiny, who's father burned him terribly when he was a baby, Grandpa Hugo and the madman who seems to be running the house Otis.  After dinner, the family puts on a show for their guests and Baby sings a song.  During the song, Baby is a little too flirtatious with Bill and makes Mary jealous and the ladies start to fight. Catfight!  Bill and Jerry break them up just in time because Rufus has go the tire fixed.  Unfortunately, when the gang tries to leave Otis and the family attack and kidnap them for their own sadistic pleasures.  Will anyone escape this house of horrors or will they be victims number 1,001, 1,002...?
For a first film, director Rob Zombie does an incredible job here.  You can really tell that he loves the genre of horror that he's working with.  Although usually compared to obviously Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hills Have Eyes, I think it has a real Spider Baby feel to it. Spider Baby has a more playful fun maniac family feeling and there isn't really any humour in either Massacre or Hills.  Sid Haig (Spider Baby, Devil's Rejects) is brilliant as Captain Spaulding and I wish there was more of him in this and Bill Mosely is pretty killer as Otis.  Actually, Zombie puts together an interesting group of horror characters with a fantastic cast of notable and now notable names like Rainn Wilson, Karen Black, Walter Goggins, Chris Hardwick and an assortment of others who you've seen in countless horror films over the years. Yes, there are some gruesome scenes and there is some bizarre shit going on but the story is decent, the ending makes sense and there is plenty of blood for everybody.  Definitely a must see and I'm sad it took me so long to see it.

So the next time you go by that house, remember these films because this is what you may find there in a deserted cellar or a locked up attic.  However, if that dare is too much for you to turn down, then at least bring an axe when you sneak in or ring the doorbell because then you might give you a fighting chance.

5 Maniac Movies

**Please note that there may be spoilers throughout the blog**

 Maniacs, their everywhere nowadays.  The term used to mean so much more but now it's just a passing tagline that gets thrown around by anyone and their 5 year old.  I blame Jennifer Beales and Flashdance for turning this word maniac into the euphemism that it has become today.  I don't think that Jennifer Beales's character displayed any of the dictionary defined terms to being a maniac, she didn't exhibit any symptoms of wild behaviour that lead to violence or put her into any throws of dementia and she didn't even kill anybody on screen. She just really liked to dance and her dream was to be a ballerina and maybe that is what made her crazy.  Who knows?
  But think of all the other horror movie icons who earned the title of maniac, like Jason Voorhees or Leatherface.  Who put in the time and work into sequel after sequel, raising the body counts, trying to find ways to make their jobs interesting and not even getting paid for it, those guys were maniacs!  So the following films are for those guys and the terrific examples of what the term maniac used to stand for.

Here are 5 Maniac Movies:



5. Neon Maniacs (aka Evil Dead Warriors) (1986) - A group teens are hangin at the park at night, drinking some beers, throwing the ole pigskin around and trying to get laid, when the village people of the dead attack them!  These monsters cut through the group of friends like a knife in hot butter, leaving only Paula cringing in the van with the doors locked.  As the strange collection of the dead attack the van, it starts to rain and shortly after the pounding stops.  When she finally opens the door, she is met by the police and taken in for questioning.  The police have no idea what to make of her story, so the let her go and like any teen who has just watch all of her good friends butchered like pigs, she has a swim in the pool to top off the night.
  The next morning when she goes to school, everybody wants to know what happened and a plucky young middle schooler named Natalie shows up to ask her the hard questions but is dismissed and sent packing.  In the cafeteria, one of her missing friend's sister starts a fight with her and luckily the boy who loves her from a far, Steven jumps in to stop this cat fight. Booo!  Paula gets sent home and pouts about not being able to go to school.
  Natalie decides to do some investigating of her own, so that night she sneaks down to the Golden Gate Bridge and starts filming a door.  Luckily, it's the right door because a parade of evil villains marches out.  Unfortunately, they see her and chase her down but she barely escapes.  Also that night, Paula and Steven have a date and are chased by this creepy conglomerate but thanks to public transit system, they escape unscathed.
  Natalie eventually convinces Paula and Steven to let her help them and now they must stop this horrid group from killing anymore people in their area of town!
   There are definitely some good things about this film that slightly out weigh the bad.  The beginning is excellent and then it really loses it's momentum after the police get involved.  The ending of the film desperately tries to rally but the scripting doesn't allow an ending that really seems suitable or plausible.  Like in most B-horrors, the police are usually idiots and in this one, it's no different but instead of a pair of detectives, there's like 5 cops on this case and they still can't figure out what to do.  The monsters maniacs seem to be village people of maniacs, there's a Samurai, a Native American, a cop, a neanderthal and a number of other types of costumes for this small army of monsters.  The make up is fine though for the monsters and the special effects are somewhat good too.  I like the green ooze that comes out of their heads, when punched or clubbed.  It's an alright little time waster but not my favourite maniac movie.

4. Maniac (aka Sex Maniac) (1934) - Former vaudeville performer, Don Maxwell starts working with mad scientist, Dr. Meirschultz on a special serum that will bring people back from the dead.  After successfully robbing the morgue of a dead girl and serum working to revive the girl, Dr. Meirschultz wants to shift gears and put a heart he made into a dead mobster.  Maxwell tries to retrieve the body of the mobster but is stopped by a gang of adorable cats!? Dr. Meirschultz is unhappy with this failure but has a new idea, he tells Don that he should kill himself and then the doctor will bring him back to life, then hands him a gun.  Good idea! ;) Unfortunately, Don decides to kill the doctor instead, but what is he gonna do with the body and what about the doctors appointments?  The only thing to do is, dress up like the doctor and pretend to be him.  Of course!  Just as Don's transformation is completed, Mr. Buckley and his wife arrive for their appointment.  Don accidentally shoots Mr. Buckley with adrenaline, which turns him into a crazed sex maniac and he takes off into the night.  Mrs. Buckley is pissed and discovers the body of the real Dr. Meirschultz, that Don left on the floor in the middle of the lab. What is Don going to do now that he has been discovered and what other crazy shit can they throw in this movie to continue the story along? Lots, trust me!
  This movie is a lot of fun and one of the best B-movies that I've seen for a while.  I was surprised to see a couple of things in this, one being a young Phyllis Diller and there was nudity shown, which is rare from this time, unless you're watching old stag films.  Anyway, as for the story, it's like they took a bunch of ideas, including Poe's story, "The Black Cat" and fused them together badly but it's so insane that it's fun.  Dwain Esper also borrows footage from other films, like Haxan and Fritz Lang's Siegfried to overlay on his scenes of mental anguish and madness.  The film is a real hoot, it's under an hour and any lover of B-movies or old horror films is sure to fall in love with this classic.  It's a public domain film, so I included it in it's entirety here. 

 
3. 2000 Maniacs (1964) - Two hillbillies trick 6 Yankees into detouring into their town for the centennial year celebration!  Yeeeeeeeee Haw! The two young married couples, the Millers and the Wells arrive first and are greeted by Mayor Buckman, who welcomes them and lets them know that they are the "Special Guests" of the centennial and that allows them free room and board at the hotel and free eats all weekend. Hot doggy!  Then, Terry Adams and her hitchhiking friend, Tom White arrive and Mayor Buckman gives them the same hullabaloo and all three couples are ushered to the hotel.
  As their "Special Guests" head back to the hotel, Mayor Buckman and his two henchman, Lester and Rufus hang back.  They talk ominously about their plans for their guests and decide who to apply special treatment to first.  By the next day, some of the couples have seem to gone missing and then Tom and Terry discover a rock with a plaque on it.  The plaque says that the town was overrun with Yankees a hundred years ago during the civil war!  The Yankees slaughtered the town and were never brought to justice!  Tom and Terry realize that these people are killing their "Special Guests" for revenge and that they're next!  Can they escape this crazy redneck town or will the south rise again and get it's revenge!?!?!
  This is the second film in Herschell Gordon Lewis "Bloody Trilogy" and it's a pretty fun little horror flick.  Unlike "Blood Feast", Lewis went for more tongue in cheek humour, which really opens the film up and makes it more enjoyable.  Don't get me wrong, there are some gory scenes but done with more of a comedic edge and will have you laughing with the movie.  I thought the ending was great and I liked the little twists throughout the film.  Campy and silly but really enjoyable and worth watching again and again.

2. Maniac Cop (1988) - On the way home from work, a waitress from a cop bar gets mugged.  She fights off her attackers and runs to get away.  The muggers chase her down to the wharf and she sees a police officer, so she runs to him screaming for help.  The police officer immediately chokes her to death and throws her lifeless corpse aside.  The two muggers freak out, try to escape but are arrested and tell the police what they saw but nobody believes them except for Detective Mike McCrae.  McCrae doesn't think that the muggers could have killed the waitress because neither of them were strong enough to do the sort of damage that was done to the victims neck.  In the following days, McCrae is proven right because there are a number of reports of incidents where a large man dressed as a police officer is killing innocent people for no reason.  Now, Mike McCrae must find this maniac cop and save the public from one his own.
   Director William Lustig (Maniac, Vigilante) really went to town on this film with a great script from Larry Cohen (It's Alive, The Stuff).  This film has a toooooon of violence and the body count is huge.  It also has a terrific cast with Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Army of Darkness), Richard roundtree (Shaft, Se7en) and Tom Atkins (The Fog, Escape From New York) as Frank McCrea.  The story is interesting and it has a big ending that is not in your usual slasher film.  Terrific film to share coffee and doughnuts with. 

1. Maniac (1980) - On a sandy beach in the early morning a young couple starts to get ready to head home after a night of shagging on the beach.  Unfortunately maniac Frank Zito is also on that beach and he's out for blood.  After strangling the boyfriend while he was skipping rocks, he then murders the girlfriend and scalps her.  He then brings the scalp home and puts it on his mannequin and cuddles beside it in bed.  Now that Frank has a taste for blood, he heads out on a few more murderous adventures before he meets with beautiful photographer named Anna.  With Anna he seems to not need to kill but how long will it last?  Can Frank stop his nightly rampages or will his relationship with Anna wind up with more bodies in his bed?
  What I like about Maniac is that director William Lustig (Maniac Cop, Vigilante) doesn't mess around and gets right into it at the beginning with the Frank Zito character.  Zito is a killer, he's crazy and when he goes out, he's bringing a scalp home.  One of the reasons, Joe Spinell's performance was probably so great was because he was a co-wrote the screen play with C.A Rosenberg and understood what his character was thinking.  Also what makes this film great is the outstanding work by special effect master, Tom Savini.  The kills in the film look fabulous and Savini even has Zito blow his head off in what is probably my favourite Savini special effect ever.  Love it!  This is a great film and after 30 years I think it still holds up and needs to be seen by horror fans everywhere.  

  So let's start taking the word Maniac back people!  Remove it from the people who are horrible drivers, coupon cutters and the mildly peculiar and put it back on the real psychos and miscreants where it really belongs. Like you, you maniac!

5 Things You Don't Do in Horror Movies!

**Please note that there may be spoilers throughout the blog**

I think we all know that there are certain things that people shouldn't do in horror movies.  We shouldn't investigate a strange noise in the basement, we shouldn't open the closet door after it creaks open and we should never ever split up from each other! Byb doing any of these things in a horror film will only bring unpleasant consequences.  Before Wes Craven's smash horror film, "Scream", other producers in the late 70's and early 80's, also recognized that there are some tricks to surviving a grindhouse film and tried their luck at writing full films on some of these concepts.

Here are 5 Things You Don't Do in Horror Movies!


5. Don't Answer The Phone (1980) - Photographer, Vietnam Vet and maniac, Kirk Smith likes to strangle and rape women, then he shoves candles into his victims orifices and take pictures of his handy work.  After the murders, Kirk also likes to a call a psychologist, Dr. Gale on her radio talk show and using a terrible spanish accent, he tell her about his his maddening headaches.  She encourages him to seek real professional help and he usually just hangs up on her.
  Police detectives, McCabe and Hatcher have just taken the case and they're stumped!  They have semen samples, hair follicles and punch card computers.  How are they ever going to find this guy?  While they sit at their desk waiting for Kirk to turn himself in, Kirk murders one of Dr. Gale's patients.  Doctor Gale comes downtown to offer her help with the case but McCabe won't have any of it because he doesn't believe in shrinks.  Shortly after, Kirk forces a hooker to call Dr. Gale's show and kills her while their talking live on air!  Now McCabe and Hatcher will have to work with Dr. Gale and try to stop crazy man Kirk from killing any more women!
  This movie was all over the place.  The scenes with Kirk, played by Nicholas Worth (Swamp Thing, Hell Comes To Frogtown) are pretty intense, unforgiving and can put a knot in your stomach.  Unfortunately, his brutal behavior is dealt with by the police in a glib, comedic way.  The detectives, who seem to have graduated from the Dragnet academy of police work spend more time cracking jokes and sitting at their desks than they do looking for a suspect.  Also, a love story is tacked on between Detective McCabe, played by James Westmoreland (The Monroes) and Dr. Gale, played by Flo Lawrence (Lords of Salem, Over The Top), which is pointless and unnecessary.  The soundtrack is annoying and most times doesn't fit what's going on.  It has it's moments but they seem far and few between, you may not want to answer this call.

4. Don't Go Near The Park (1979) - Brother and sister, Gar and Tra did something awful, I didn't quite understand what they did but it was so awful that an old witch had to put a curse on them.  The curse is also confusing but I think they need to eat flesh from teenagers to survive until they can sacrifice a child from their own clan and that will give them eternal life but they can only do this 12 thousand years in the future.
  Fast forward to 1979, the future! Gar, who's now Mark is still eating teenage innards.  He rent's a room from a lady and she discovers that he kills people!  However, it's 1979 and I guess there is a severe lack of eligible bachelors because she marries Mark and they a have a baby girl together, which they named Bondi.  Unfortunately, for Bondi, her mother is a real cow and doesn't like that her father spends time with her.  On her 16th birthday, Bondi's mother has a fit and tells Mark that either he goes or she goes.  Mark gives Bondi the ugliest amulet in world and says good-bye.  Bondi, also decides to hit the road and strike out on her own.
  After some twists and turns, that are unnerving and confusing, she ends up at an abandoned park and finds a old ranch house, where to other runaways, Nick and Cowboy live with a mysterious lady named Patty.  Patty likes to dress up like a witch and scare people at the park!  Sometimes she wears an eyepatch when she takes off her mask and sometimes she doesn't.  Anywhoo, eventually Bondi finds out this place is haunted by creatures that eat flesh but she doesn't want to leave her new best friends, Nick & Cowboy! What's a girl to do?
  This movie is sooooooo ridiculous, you'd have to watch it to understand.  It goes from this scary movie and then shifts into an after school special.  The gore effects, which there isn't too much, and having Linnea Quigley are really it's saving graces to this film.  However, it is pretty funny to watch as director Lawrence David Foldes keeps changing his mind about what kind of movie he wants to make.  The sets, look like sets and the acting in this is awful but if you're looking to Mystery Science Theatre something, this would be a good choice.

3. Don't Go In The Basement (aka The Forgotten) (1973) - Nurse Charlotte Beale has just arrived for her first day of work at the Stephens Sanitarium for the mentally ill.  She is informed by a Dr. Geraldine Masters that before she arrive Dr. Stephens was murdered by one of the patients and the other nurse hasn't "taken leave".  Dr. Masters tells Charlotte that she isn't needed and has everything under control but when Charlotte says that she'll go and see if she can get her old job back, Masters changes her mind and asks her to stay.  So Charlotte decides to stay.
  The first night there is strange for Charlotte and the patients are acting weird, even for people in a mental institution.  One of the elderly patients, Mrs. Callingham keeps trying to tell Charlotte something but her tongue cut out gets cut out that night and isn't able to communicate after that.  The phones no longer work for some reason and the tension in the asylum is rising.  Can Charlotte find out the mystery of the missing tongue and escape this madhouse or will she become a patient there under Dr. Masters control?
  I like what this film tries to do and can appreciate the effort that went into it.  There are some gory scenes at the beginning and then at the end but sadly the middle seems to drag on and on and on.  There are a lot of patients to focus on and some of them get lost in the mix.  There are some moments of confusion and you really have to stretch your suspension of belief for some of it to still make sense.  Still, it's a alright picture that can be enjoyed by any horror fan, who appreciates B-movies.

2. Don't Go In The House (1979) - An explosion at work sets one of Donny Kohler's friend a flame and he stands back to watch the fire engulf his pal.  Other workers rush over to help and give Donny shit for not trying to save his friend, except for Ben.  Ben tells Donny that he understands that Donny froze up and invites him out for a beer, but Donny refuses and says he needs to get home.  Donny heads home to take care of aged mother but when he gets home and walks into the kitchen, he remembers how his mom would hold his arms over the fire on the stove when he was bad.  Putting it out of his mind, he makes the food for his mother and heads up stairs to her room.  When he gets upstairs, he finds his mother dead in her favourite chair and so he tries yelling at her but this has no effect on her, she remains dead.  At first he's sad, then he's relieved and like any tormented child runs around the house blasting his loud disco music and jumping on the furniture!  That is until he hears the voices whispering.  The voices in his head start to tell him to do bad things.
  The next day, Donny calls into work sick and starts putting metal walls up in one room and then like any child in grieving, he goes and buys a flame retardant suit.  Now his plan is almost complete, he just needs one more thing, a girl and what better place to find a girl than at the local flower shop.  So, he heads downtown and after making the florist miss her bus, he offers her a lift home.  She accepts and he asks her if they can stop at his home to pick something up but when they stop at home, Donny knocks the florist out! When she wakes up, she is naked and hanging from a hook in a metal room.  Danny walks in with his brand new suit and flamethrower and hoses her down in flames, until she is nice and crispy.  Danny is ready now and realizes that this is what he should be doing with his life but is there anyone out there that can stop him?
  This was an interesting film and it had a semi Hitchcock "Psycho" feel to it.  The scenes with the flamethrower are pretty graphic and got this on the Video Nasty list but it really turns into a one note film after the first couple.  As he collects his victims, there doesn't seem to be any mystery as to what is going to happen to them and it gets old quick.  The voices inside Donny's head are an interesting touch and his spiral into insanity is well played out by Dan Grimaldi (The Sopranos).  The problem for the film is how does Donny get discovered because he is a loner, but they work an alright twist that creates a plausible and acceptable ending.  Some elements of the film may be too hot for some to handle, make sure you wear protection while watching.    

1. Don't Go In The Woods (1981) - Ingrid, Peter, Joanie and Craig head into the woods for a summer camping trip.  Unfortunatley, there is a mad woodsman viking looking guy killing campers there too!  The sheriff has had a report of a couple missing people but he's waiting 24 hours to see if they turn up, so he's gonna take a ride in the helicopter.  Meanwhile, people are being hacked to pieces by this madman and Craig is murdered the next day!  Peter, Joanie and Ingrid split up and try to race out of the woods.  Will they survive this camping nightmare?
  There really isn't much to this movie and that might be why I enjoyed so much.  There's no character development, no discovery of greater truth or even a reason why this guy is doing it but there is a crazy guy who kills a lot of people in the woods!  The body count on this movie is huge!  I don't know if these woods were giving special offers on kijiji or what but a ton of people die in this movie.  It's extremely low budget but there are some good special effects and some that will make you laugh.  The acting isn't very good but I'm sure they tried their best and sometimes that counts.  It's a lot of fun to watch but probably better to watch with friends and if you need an excuse it was on the famous Video Nasty list as well, so just relax, turn off your brain and enjoy.

When Tarantino and Rodrigez produced their Grindhouse movies they included a number of fake trailers, (two actually became movies) and there was one trailer called "Don't" that was spoofing these films.  I kept thinking of when I was watching these movies.  None of these films had a huge cast or a lot of money but they are certainly fun to watch and if they didn't teach you how to escape an insane killer, well at least they showed you that you can make a cool slasher film on a limited budget.