Nov 04 2008
Halloween Horror Challenge Final Days
I got tangled up and didn’t get to post the final entries into my Halloween horror challenge. So here they are in one long diatribe.
On Thursday October 30th 2008 I watched:
BLOOD SCARAB (2008) **
D. Donald Glut
Frontline Films
DV
This extremely softcore, nudy vampire romp is a genteel horror comedy that wears its history on its sleeve. Lots of Hammer and Universal references abound as we dive into the tale of Elizabeth Bathory, now married to the one and only Count Dracula, the both of them living in the outskirts of Las Angeles, and doing the blood drinking dance. Renfield is around too taking care of them and chasing and eating bugs to an almost sexualized degree. But one fateful night Dracula is left out too long because Renfield is off chasing bugs and doesn’t make it back to his coffin in time thusly turning to dust. This leaves Renfield to care for only Bathory who has a lust for power as well as blood. See she wants to be able to walk in the sunlight and she figures out that an ancient Mummy will alllow her to do so. So Renfield finds a way to get said Mummy for a ritual to raise the goddess and make it all happen. Along the way there are plenty of models who take off their clothes for no real good reasons at all and are seduced by the vamiress. Here she bites them on the breast instead of the neck for the added erotic frission. But it never reall registers as very erotic. One babe has such huge unrealistic breasts that it is distracting. All the girls who get naked look like they stepped out of the L.A. nude modeling agency catalogue and only one of them shows any real acting ability. Monique Parent plays Bathory with her teeth clenched hard, hoping her tense body language will cary the role. She does okay for a while, but its a one demensional performance (not that the res tof the movie cries out for anything else).
But one thing this movie has going for it is that it looks great. The digital photography is slick and well done, showing that a great deal of care was put into making this look like a professional production. There are also some decent digital effects that while always looking exactly like CGI, it is professionally done and somewhat impressive. Overall the movie has a certain amount of panache that pulls it along. It never quite works as an erotic movie, even though it is filled to the rafters with naked women. It is never quite funny enough to be a good comedy. And is definitely not scary even though it uses all horror iconography. But there is still a low budget charm that comes across from the enthusiasm put forth.
Friday October 31
WEREWOLVES ON WHEELS (1971) ***
D. Michael Levesque
Dark Sky/MPI
1.85
This classic drive in movie is one I’ve meant to watch for years and just finally got around to to it this Halloween. I’m glad to say it lived up to the hype. A group of rowdy bikers burn through the desert and find it when they encounter a group of Satanists who put the hocus pocus on the leader of the pack and his old lady. But the gang whip the asses of the Satanists and high tail it out of there thinking ass is well and good. WRONG! Each night while they camp under the stars something is murdering their ranks in flesh tearing, bloody detail. At first they think it is an animal. All of them except acid head biker Tarot who sees that somethign witchy is going down. Before it is all over and done with you WILL see werewolves riding motorcycles!
This is a movie that delivers exactly what it promises. There’s the lurid, biker melodrama. Tons of interludes consisting of bad 60’s acid music and bikers on the road. There’s naked biker mama’s dacing and juggling their boobies in the camera. There’s Satanic panic in the crowd as the hooded devil monks do their dirty business killing a cat and dipping bread in its blood. There’s biker fisticuffs that would make William Shatner proud. And then there is the great Werewolves of the finale, that do exactly what the title suggests they do. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. And they really should…
DARK CORNERS (2006) **1/2
D. Ray Gower
Lions Gate
1.85
Thora Birch plays two roles in this very David Lynch inspired directorial debut that has a lot on its mind, but still stumbles a little too much to be called great. Birch plays a young woman who is trying to have a child but cannot conceive. She is about to undergo invetro insemination and this has her all stressed out. She keeps dreaming about a woman that looks just like her but with black hair (also played by Birch) who is being stalked and tormented by a hooded killer with filed down teeth. Meanwhile in the real world someone is gutting woman and leaving their bodies to be found. But it seems that the mystery woman in her dreams actually has a real life and is dreaming of the other woman too. So which one is real? Which one is in danger? The blond Thora starts seeing a hypno-therapist to try and rid herself of the nightmares but things only get worse and the Invetro doesn’t go as planned.
The movie gets points for good acting and characters you care about. The production design is outstanding (you can practically smell the nasty bathroom). But it loses points for a killer who is painfully obvious and a twist, that, though creative, leaves many things unravelled and loose. I’m all for ambaguity, but there is all kinds of questions and loose ends that seemingly don’t make much sense once this is all wrapped up.
There is some surprisingly nasty gore effects that caught me off gaurd however and at least one creep you out and keep you that way scene. So the movie is certainly worth a watch. Think of it as John Hughs’ She’s Having A Baby meets Jacob’s Ladder, meets Seven.
And those are the final movies I watched as part of my Halloween Horror challenge. Watch this space to see what I come up with next!
Werewolves Wheels is one of my favorite exploitation flicks from the 70’s. I really liked the idea of combining horror with the biker exploitation films of that time. It is a very underrated film and often poked fun at by film critics, but the film is actually well done and has a lot of atmosphere as well as having some real memorable scenes.
One of my favorite scenes is when we first see the werewolf and he attacks the biker couple , I like the slow motion technique Michael Levesque used and just the whole direction was excellent. The satanic ritual scene also was eerily shot to. The whole film was well directed,wonderfully shot and scripted.
It is sort of sad that Michael Levesque didn’t continue directing I think he did well with Werewolves and probably could have churned out a few more films like this before eventually slipping into obscurity. I think the only other film I’ve seen he directed was Chain Gang Girls,which was a descent WIP filck, but I would have liked to seen him do more horror.
The cast was also very well picked. Steve Oliver in particular, was very convincing as a biker, he was probably one of my all time favorite bikers next to Larry Bishop and Jeremy Slate in Born Losers. Barry McGuire also did a great job and was more convincing than most rockers turn actors.
I also liked the music, in particular the opening track, it was very reminiscent to something The Doors would have preformed and totally added to the atmosphere of the film.
I have not seen Blood Scarab or Dark Corners yet. I will have to checkout Dark Corners it looks interesting. Blood Scarab maybe. Thanks for the info.