Cemetery of Terror (1985)

I was going to put this in my slasher movie marathon this summer, but I just couldn’t. There is a lot of the movie that is clearly in the slasher category, but this is one that switches gears partway thru. Normally that is a train wreck in the making but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t work here. More on that later on, time to get to the plot synopsis.

There is a bad guy named Devlon who killed a bunch of people and got gunned down by the police. He had a doctor named Cardan, played by Hugo Stiglitz, who knows he was evil and wants to get the body cremated right away. It seems Devlon was a Satanist and that he was promised eternal life or something like that by the Devil. No one else believes him but he persists and finally forges some paperwork to make that happen. Sadly, it is too late.

A bunch of older kids, high school or maybe college, go have a party at an old house by the cemetery. There they find Devlon’s book, and the guys decide to freak the girls out by stealing a body and reading from the book/casting a spell. Guess whose body they steal? As promised Devlon comes back to life and starts killing all over again. We also see a bunch of younger kids that decide to test their bravery by walking thru the cemetery. This is a bad day to do this. Did I mention yet this all takes place on Halloween night? That adds to the spooky fun and explains why the kids want to scare the hell out of themselves. Bodies pile up, children are threatened, and believe it or not Devlon raises a cemetery full of zombies to chase after the kids. This movie is tossing a ton of shit at the audience and somehow it all sticks.

Don't read the spooky book in the cemetery!

I can’t for the life of me figure out why this movie works. Normally when horror subgenres are mashed together like this you get an unfocused and unpleasant result. Here they mix the Satanist/supernatural plot with a slasher and add in a dash of zombie movie. To top it all off the last third of the movie are a bunch of kids being menaced by all sort of bad guys Goonies style. That is a dish that should taste like crap, but it doesn’t. Why does it work here?

After the first twenty minutes establishing characters and setting up the story the pacing picks up and the movie is always showing something fun on the screen. That helps keep your mind from wandering and even noticing the tonal changes. The movie also does a decent job exceling at what it is trying to do at the time. The kills are decent, and we get some guts ripped out and a respectable body count of seven. Don’t expect explicit gore but it is respectable. So, the slasher part of the story works. The supernatural part works equally as well. They don’t try any over the top stuff, but we do have a guy shuffling around who looks like a recently dead Satanist. They don’t get too silly by dressing him in robes or shit like that, he is just creepy looking guy in normal clothes. And when they get to the zombies those are also fun. Understand these are more Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things grey faced creations rather than Day of the Dead zombies. But I dig the old school look.

Note to self... Crosses work on zombies!

The actors, including the kids, are pretty good. Even the younger kids sell being scared very well. The most recognizable name to most genre fans is Hugo Stiglitz who is also pretty good here. Though he isn’t in as much of the movie as you would think. Though in a way his character connects the story and moves the things along, so his performance is important. Plus he is basically Mexican Doctor Loomis so that is awesome. There is also a strange vibe to the proceedings. While made by a Mexican company and director with a mostly Mexican cast it was shot across the border in Brownsville Texas. It feels like an American movie only with everyone speaking Spanish. I kind of liked that and think it gives Cemetery of Terror a unique feel.

Bottom line is this is a great flick. If you like eighties horror and are looking for something different that you haven’t seen before I bet that this will scratch that itch. I’m such a fan that I’m going to start looking for other movies made by this director, Ruben Galindo Jr. If this isn’t a one off from him then I might have stumbled onto a new favorite. I highly recommend Cemetery of Terror.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Stranger from Venus (1954)

It has been a while since I've done my Fab Fifties Friday reviews. Here I’ve found another oldie but goodie that I’ve not seen before. This is another of those British movies that must not have gotten a lot of play on the late night shows I frequented back in the day. Pretty excited to check it out.

The story takes place in an isolated small village. One night there is a strange light in the sky and a mysterious man shows up at the local pub. He has no money, acts oddly, and is clearly an alien! There was also an accident where a local woman was seriously injured in a car crash that was caused by the lights. She shows up after everyone has found the car and is assuming the worst. She has injuries, but they are healing. Sure enough the stranger admits he helped her and that he is from the planet Venus.

Why is he here? This isn’t one of those invasion flicks but is instead takes a serious look at the human condition. The Stranger asks that the leaders of the world come to a meeting with the soon to land representatives of his civilization. He has arrived early to set things up and prepare the world. The government men and military instead decide to capture that landing party and keep all the alien technology and knowledge for themselves. We really do suck, don’t we?

I really liked Stranger from Venus but I’m afraid that it might not go over well with everyone. If you are looking for a silly “B” Sci-Fi movie then this isn’t for you. There aren’t a lot of special effects and not a single rubber monster to terrorize the locals. Instead you have a normal looking guy that keeps trying to help everyone around him only to be taken advantage by the powers in charge. In this movie the human race is the monsters and the alien is the victim. That is a fun twist and is pretty classic science fiction trope. But again, if you wanted some silliness then you will be very disappointed.

I thought the cast was good, though I didn’t recognize most of them. The big exception to that was Patricia Neal, an American actress who worked for decades and was great in almost everything that she was in. Most nerds like me will remember her from The Day the Earth Stood Still, which is basically the same story as we get here only with a much larger budget. That movie came out four years before this one so I’m wondering if there was a bit of marketing in getting her in this movie. Her performance is great, as is that of the entire cast, so I don’t really mind it.

I’ve already mentioned the special effects work. This is a movie that couldn’t have cost that much to make as it has just a couple locations for the duration. We also don’t get a lot of flying saucer action until the very end. This movie is about the characters and story. I think they did a very good job bringing that to the screen. The movie is only seventy-five minutes long and that seems perfect. If you are looking for some good science fiction that isn’t focused on a monster, then I can highly recommend Stranger from Venus to you.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Eyes Behind the Stars (1978)

This was an interesting find for me. As I’ve mentioned before I have a huge stack of movies that I’m always meaning to watch. Every so often that pile becomes too large and falls over, which means it is time to dig in. This Italian science fiction flick caught my eye the last time they crashed down so I figured it was the universe telling me something. Let’s take a look at Eyes Behind the Stars.

The action starts with a photographer and his model working in the woods. He is taking a lot of pictures when they both start to feel creeped out. Instead of bailing he continues to shoot as he wants to get the work done. After developing the film, he notices strange figures in the background. The only thing is that neither of them saw anything while they were there. This leads him to go back into the woods and try to capture more shots. That is a terrible idea as the aliens, and yes, they are aliens, abduct him. Not only that they eventually get the model too, but not until she calls a reporter named Tony. While talking to her he “borrows” the negatives of the pictures. This is important later.

The rest of the movie is Tony along with a UFO expert and parttime Antiques dealer digging to discover the truth. Toss in the silencers, which is this movie’s version of the men in black, some aliens, the local cops, and the military for even more fun. Everyone is after the negatives and trying to cover up the existence of the visitors, so this makes Tony very popular. It all comes to an explosive and surprising end.

The Aliens

When I sat down to watch Eyes Behind the Stars, I was expecting a cheesy creature feature. That isn’t what I got at all. Instead, this is a fun thriller with lots of twists and turns. The UFO conspiracy theories are flying as we have not only aliens, but secret government projects, and a multinational shadow organization trying to hide things from the public. People get roughed up and even killed by these groups to hide the truth! The seventies were a weird decade where no one trusted “the man” and no conspiracy was discounted. That is why there are so many fun “documentaries” about bigfoot, UFOs, other cryptids, and anything else where someone could let their imagination run. This movie tosses a bunch of it at the audience, and I enjoyed the heck out of what I was watching.

The special effects aren’t great. The aliens are just guys in jumpsuits and helmets. Nothing worth diving into there. The miniature work is okay, but again nothing that is going to make you sit up in your chair. Most of the time we see the aliens moving around from a POV shot with a weird fisheye lens that I think works well. The movie also does a decent job using sound and light to not only let you know the visitors are around but when they attack as well. We get a little bit of action as there is one shootout as our main characters rescue someone from the silencers, but for the most part this isn’t an action-packed story.

Overall, I had a blast with Eyes Behind the Stars. I do wonder if it is partially due to my nostalgia for the decade when I first started watching flicks and my fascination with UFOs as a kid. Will this translate as well to someone who doesn’t share this experience? Not sure but I still think that it is worth checking out.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

The Severed Arm (1973)

It should surprise no one who regularly visits this website that I’m a huge drive-in movie nerd. I love all the of cheesy fare that was shot for the passion pits of America. I’ve spent more than forty years tracking down and watching all of them that I could find. Yet somehow, I still stumble over hidden gems now and again. The Severed Arm is one of those. 

The action starts with a mysterious figure breaking into a morgue and chopping off an arm of a corpse. We then see them wrap it up and drop it in the mail. As a side note we watch a mailman make the special delivery and if you look really close it is Angus Scrimm! The man who gets the arm is named Jeff and he seems very disturbed by its arrival. He makes a call and heads off to see his friend Ray, who is a doctor. I only say this because when he arrives the doc opens up his liquor cabinet. God the seventies were cool…

Back to the story. The pair say it must be Ted, who is a raving maniac. Why is he like that? In an extended flashback we see that six men all went cave diving and got trapped underground. In an effort to hold off starvation they draw lots and much to his dismay lop off Ted’s arm for supper. Though immediately after the deed is done rescuers arrive to save them. That was terrible timing. As a group, except for poor old Ted, they all agree to lie and say he lost his arm in the cave-in. Ted goes crazy and ends up in an institution. But now it appears he is back for revenge. Sure, enough the five men in the conspiracy start to die and lose their right arms. Who lives and who dies? Is it Ted who is killing them? You will need to watch this movie to find out. 

A man has to eat!

I really do suggest that you guys check this one out. This is an excellent low budget movie that has an interesting story to tell and that keeps the action moving. The flashback works very well to setup what happens later. The dialogue is solid and the acting very good. There is some tension and a couple okay scares, which were appreciated. The cat and mouse game being played between the killer and his victims is also fun. I also like how well thought out the story is. They can’t go to the police without letting them in on what they did. Heck one of the men is a police detective! So they have to keep it secret and deal with the killer themselves, which I can let you know doesn’t go well. The Severed Arm is a well written movie. 

There are many familiar faces, mostly from television, in the cast. Marvin Kaplan, Paul Carr, and Deborah Walley should all be recognized by fans. They do a great job in their roles bringing the characters to life. Again, the writing is a huge help, but casting veteran actors in the roles doesn’t hurt. Far too many independent movies are drug down with bad writing and/or acting. With The Severed Arm this is a strength. 

For an early seventies’ movie, I was impressed with the level of gore. We see a few severed arms with lots of bright red blood on screen. There is more than once where the hatchet comes down again and again. While we don’t see it hit the editing is such that the attack feels violent and visceral. The body count is a bit light at only four, but the ending more than makes up for it. While not another kill it hints at a fate worse than death. This movie pulls no punches and I dig it for that. 

This is why I keep searching thru the piles of “to watch” movies. Sure, a lot of them end up being miserable but I’d sit thru ten of those (and have!) to get to one gem like The Severed Arm. I highly recommend that you find yourself a copy of this right away. It is worth your time and money. 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Intersect (2020)

This movie opens up with a camera zooming thru a strange alien world before stopping on some kind of creature. Then the camera pulls back, and we see a man standing over an injured woman. She tells him to remember and then dies. Immediately after that we see the same couple, Ryan and Caitlin, in bed together. Are you confused yet? If not, you will be. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious that it is being told out of order and jumping around. This I suppose was thought to be acceptable because this movie is about time travel. I’ll talk more about this later.

Be aware the next paragraph is choked full of spoilers so you may not want to read it. But honestly, I’m not going to recommend spending two hours on this movie, so I don’t feel bad about sharing. You have been warned. Thru a tedious two hours of jumping around, including an extended time spent with Ryan, Caitlin, and the third member of their little group Nate we find out one very important thing. There are creatures from another dimension that want to enter ours. To that end they have been filling Ryan’s mind with all sorts of formulas to help him build his time machine. They also have others they are influencing to manipulate a terrorist attack to rip open a portal to our dimension.

I could say more but I won’t. Intersect is trying very hard to be clever and I’ll admit that they do have some interesting twists in the story. But each and every one of them is so utterly predictable because as a science fiction fan I’ve seen it done already. In most cases much better than we get here. There are also things that seemed forced. Like Ryan mysteriously not remembering his little sister because… trauma. That is convenient because it allows him to block out the memory of the time traveling Nate who accidentally kills her. And the fact that his own adolescent self grabbed a gun and shot him.

That is what is wrong with the writing here. They are so enamored with trying to be smart that they end up chasing their tails and taking the audience with them. I think this is also the reason that the damn movie is almost two hours long. This was already a very dry and action less tale so this kills any chance they might have had to entertain. I mean did we really need the subplot explaining that the guy with the bomb was their bully from elementary school. Was it that important? No, it wasn’t. I have more examples, but I think you guys get the point.

There are a few decent CGI generated creatures, but this is inconsistent because at other times the effects aren’t very good. It is also clear that they were trying to reuse shots to get the most bang for their buck. I won’t complain too much about this because sadly we don’t really get many creatures. This plays more like a drama or pre-teen soap opera than it does science fiction. And don’t get sucked in like I do with the hinting of Lovecraftian creatures. There are some references for sure, but they don’t give us any creature related payoff.

In the end this movie is a total misfire for me. I’m a science fiction fan and aren’t afraid of movies that make me pay attention and think. But there is no payoff. Oh, and somehow yet again we have an independent filmmaker showing their characters watching Night of the Living Dead. Seriously stop showing me a much better movie in your less than stellar flick. I suggest passing on Intersect.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child

Ever since I reviewed Full Wolf Moon, I’ve wanted to check out more stories with Child’s Dr. Logan character. Like I mentioned in that review the character is the main protagonist in three of the five books that he appears in and a supporting character in two. Terminal Freeze is one of those where he is just there to move the story along, but it is what I found in my local used bookstore, so I figured why not. 

Our main character is Evan Marshall who is part of a team studying the effects of Global Warming. While working at an isolated decommissioned military station in Alaska he and the others discover a strange creature frozen in the ice. It is then that the reader finds out that their funding came from a production company that was hoping to make a documentary out of their findings. Well this creature is a sensational discovery and soon the base is filled with a production crew that nearly overwhelms the scientists and the skeleton crew of soldiers who serve as caretakers of the facility. 

Thru greed and hubris, the creature is pulled out of the ice and plans are made to thaw it on live television. Before that can happen, it unfreezes itself and wakes up. The prehistoric killing machine was alive in the ice! The bodies begin piling up while the survivors try to figure out how to destroy the thing. Bullets bounce off of it and electricity barely slows it down. This is further complicated by the fact that anyone near the creature feels an unbearable pressure in their heads and suffer overwhelming fear. 

I’m not going to spoil the ending so that is about all I’ll say about the story. What I can share is that Child again gives the reader a fast paced and engaging book with interesting characters that have depth. Some you can root for and others end up getting what they deserve in gratifying ways. There aren’t any real twists as the plot follows the expected formula of monster is found, people get killed, and eventually it is destroyed by the hero. The only thing that might pass for a twist is a little story from Dr. Logan where he gives an alternate theory of the creature’s origins. Not really a twist but a clever last minute what if from the author. 

I have to mention one thing that as a fan of classic science fiction movies I noticed and loved seeing in the book. At one point the characters think that electricity is the only way to kill the creature so they setup an elaborate trap for it. The plan includes a metal plate on the floor and a narrow hallway next to power station. Again, these characters are trapped in an isolated military station surrounded by the hostile frozen landscape. All I can say is that Child must have seen and been a fan of The Thing from Another World. 

I finished Terminal Freeze over a couple of days and enjoyed the heck out of it. Consider this one recommended. Now please excuse me while I head off to dig thru the stacks of my local used book shop looking for more goodies. Seriously I’m leaving right now to do so. 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Triggered (2020)

The title to this movie caught my eye and when I read the plot synopsis, I thought I’d check it out. We have a group of college aged kids coming back to town for what I think is their five-year high school reunion. They end up in the middle of the woods camping and partying when they all are gassed and wake up with bombs strapped to their chests. It is then that their high school science teacher walks into the clearing and tells them that they deserve this before shooting himself in the head. Later they find a missing friend who has more information about what is going on.

Each bomb has a timer. If it runs out, you go boom! The times are all different and the person with the least time has the lights on the device go read, while the person with the most is blue. There will be only one winner and the way to get more time is kill someone else and steal theirs. So, they have to murder each other to live. There is also a subplot about the teacher’s motives and why these kids were chosen that I won’t spoil here.

This is a decent movie. We have seen this sort of story so many times in the horror genre going back to Battle Royale. It has been copied in several movies with mixed results. Here the story is helped by the mystery of why they were picked and in the end which of them is actually responsible. Again, I’m keeping this vague because I don’t want to ruin it. Mostly because I don’t think that the movie will hold up well without the wait for the big reveal. Really don’t watch or read any spoilers to Triggered if you want to enjoy the flick.

The pacing is decent at the beginning where the characters are introduced, and we see where they fit in the story. The party guy, the bitchy girl, the smart girl, stoner dude, etc. There is one character that is presented as one of the stereotypes but ends up much differently. That was a clever twist and along with what I’ve already mentioned shows me that there were some attempts at switching things up and making this story unique. I appreciate that. At the same time, I do have to point out that after they know the rules to the game it becomes very much pair off and walk around in the woods and is predictable. This drags the proceedings down a bit in between the action sequences.

The gore is decent and shockingly a lot of it is practical. There are smashed heads, cut throats, explosions, kneecapping, and other gory bits. The camera doesn’t shy away from them either lingering on the kills showing us all we would want to see. My favorite gag is a knife to the eyeball. That is especially fun. Oddly enough they also go for some realism with characters not dying right away and again they linger on their agonizing deaths. I didn’t expect that, but it does make Triggered stand out.

Like I mentioned earlier this is a decent movie. While it does have a been there done that feel they do enough to make it stand out. And despite a few slow spots I do like the kills and the conclusion to the movie. I didn’t bring this up in my synopsis, but the ending is very cool. Again, I have to be careful to not spoil it. I’m going to recommend this one.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer