The Mutilator, Artistic Slasher Film

One of the highlights of venturing to the video store in the 1980s was found in the horror section.  The box art on VHS cases often times was better than the films it protected.  Who can forget the subtle eroticism of the case of "The Slumber Party Massacre"?  That film and 1984's "The Mutilator" were my favorite two VHS cases (see picture below).  "The Mutilator" (aka "Fall Break"), as a film, may not be as good as it's box art, however, the final 15 minutes of this shocker probably saves it from being a mediocre slasher film.

As a kid, Ed accidentally shotgunned his mom to death.  Ed's dad (Jack Chatham) returns home to find his now corpse-wife...and doesn't handle it well.  Present day, Ed (Matt Mitler) is in college. With a break in the semester, Ed brings five friends to his dad's beach condo.  As the beach season has ended, Ed is supposed to close it down for the winter, but not before and he and his friends have lots of pre-marital sex and drink lots of Natural Lite beer.  Uh oh....living in the cellar is Ed's dad, hidden and waiting.  Oh yeah, Ed's dad clutches a battle-ax like a toddler hugs a teddy bear.

Wouldn't you know it, the pretty Linda (Frances Raines) and hunk Mike (Morey Lampley) find a pool for some midnight skinny dipping.  Ed's dad offs them and with their corpses....well...you'll see.  The battle-ax wielding maniac begins going through Ed's pals like crap through a goose.  The deaths often utilize contraptions found in the dad's fishing closet.  This is unfortunate for the very pretty Sue (Connie Rogers).  To see her very gory death, make sure you find an uncut version of this film.  Now Ed and his Linda Blair look-a-like GF, Pam (Ruth Martinez) are next on the dad's list.  Will Ed and Pam survive?  Just how many sharp and pointy objects occupy a fishing closet?

The final 15 minutes of this film is a gory and shocking. When you see Sue's demise you will wince in pain, especially if you are a female. As a rule, when the maniac is killed in slasher films, he isn't really dead, and this film highlights that in a great final scene.  Directed by Buddy Cooper and John Douglass, "The Mutilator" ends up being an effective slasher film, and is available on YouTube.

Savage Streets, Linda Blair goes Ninja

Linnea Quigley is one of the greatest scream queens of all time.  Known for her risque roles in so many horror films, it is easy to forget she is also a terrific actress.  Her portrayal of young Heather in today's film is sweet, pure, and ultimately heartbreaking.  Quigley's Heather is a deaf high school girl who capture's our hearts.  Her love for ballet and goodness have us all cooing "Awwwww!" every time she is on the screen.  Unfortunately, our film today is "Savage Streets," and goodness and charm do not fare well in 1980s vicious exploitation films. Her vicious demise will send Linda Blair on a warpath in 1984's "Savage Streets."

Alas, poor Heather

After Heather is pummeled, humiliated, and gang raped by a gang called the Scars, her sister Brenda (Linda Blair) vows vengeance.  Brenda may feel a bit responsible as she was in an elongated cat-fight with cheerleader Cindy (Rebecca Perle) in the locker room shower.  These two will engage in another cat-fight later on, in biology class.  Back to less gratuitous elements of the plot.  At first Brenda doesn't know who is responsible for Heather's attack.  Our protagonist heads a lady gang, more into smoking and disrespecting teachers than anything too violent.

Brenda gets mad

Brenda's BFF, Francie (Lisa Freeman) is then murdered by the gang a few days shy of her wedding.  Now Brenda is merciless.  She dons block ninja garb, grabs a crossbow, bear traps, and a switchblade and sets off on a path of homicide.  Jake (Robert Dryer) is the Scars leader, and he is all monster.  Ultimately Jake and Brenda will have a final confrontation which will be full of gore and carnage. When Brenda turns hunter, we almost sympathize with the goons who defiled Heather (almost).

Aiming for Jake

Will Brenda avenge sweet Heather? Does Jake have any mischief and misogyny up his leather jacket sleeve for Brenda? Will our beautiful cheerleader Cindy learn her lesson and avoid future cat-fights with Brenda.  Violent and unapologetic, "Savage Streets" has no mercy for the audience.  If you like your exploitation films that way, Linda Blair and Linnea Quigley are fantastic in "Savage Streets," which is available on YouTube. Directed by Danny Steinmann, this film delivers on the gore and violence.

Turkey Shoot, Obedience is Death

I first saw this plot in a 1933 Fay Wray film, "The Most Dangerous Game." Classic plot....schmucks find their way to an island, usually shipwrecked, and meet an enigmatic host who seems benign. The next day, the host reveals that his new guests will be set loose on the island so he can hunt them down like animals. A more serious and realistic version of this plot was detailed on this blog in my review of "Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity" (click on link to see this review SLAVE GIRLS ). Today we look at one of the most gory versions of this plot, 1982's "Turkey Shoot."

In the near future society has gone mad and is ruled by an evil totalitarian government.  Anyone harboring thoughts of freedom and reform is sent to a prison island for re-education.  Paul (Steve Railsback), an aggressive voice of liberty is sent there with innocent shop owner, Chris (Olivia Hussey). After some gratuitous shower and torture scenes, these two are selected to be in a group of inmates who will be set free to be hunted by Charles (Michael Craig) the warden and his sadistic pals. Each pal will be tasked with killing one of these inmates.  Also in the group is Rita (Lynda Stoner), a sultry blonde who will be pursued by the evil Jennifer (Carmen Duncan).  Jennifer is an evil babe with a bow and arrows who desires to torture and rape Rita before killing her.

Our inmates are set free, but the hunters have all the advantages. Paul and Chris will team up, and fall in love, and provide our hunters with a real challenge.  As Jennifer and Charles demonstrate their cruelty, our runners fall one by one.  In a very ominous scene Jennifer catches up to poor Rita and...well, you'll see. Unlike the other films mentioned above, "Turkey Shoot" has machete carnage, arrow carnage, decapitation carnage, mutant ape-man carnage, torture carnage, etc.... Will Chris and Paul prevail?  If so, Paul has bigger plans for the island than mere escape.  Will Jennifer turn her attention to Chris after finishing off Rita? Yes she will.

Campy and a bit exploitative, this violent action flick is worth a look. Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, this film gets very ambitious. Our warden and his friends are incredibly sadistic and jet fighter bombers and epic war scenes become part of the plot.  Available on YouTube in fine quality, enjoy "Turkey Shoot."

JeruZalem, Google meets The End Times

JeruZalem....not Jerusalem.  Stick a Z in it. That's right...Z as in DEMONS. Wait, sorry...Z as in ZOMBIES. Throw in a couple of Jewish babes more interested in pre-marital sex in the Holy Land than their heritage, a hunk anthropologist, bar-hopping, and Google glasses...and we have the newest Holy Land zombie flick. So...let us take a look at why Google glasses are in reality the mark of the beast by examining 2015's "JeruZalem," directed by Doron and Yoav Paz.

Sarah, our nympho protagonist

After losing her brother in an accident, Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn) heads to Tel Aviv. Accompanying her is her BFF Rachel (Rachel Klein). Uh oh....rule number 7 in horror films...do not deviate from original plans, is violated.  The gals meet a handsome young Indiana Jones wannabe, Kevin (Yon Tumarkin), who convinces them to accompany him to Jerusalem.  Bad timing! All goes well at first as Sarah and Kevin have pre-marital sex and lots of bar hopping ensues.  Oh yes, we see this all unfold through Sarah's new Google glasses.  Omar (Tom Graziani), a dashing Muslim joins the party, his last mistake.  As Yom Kippur approaches, so does the zombie apocalypse.

Rachel in peril

Amid unholy behavior in Jerusalem, it begins.  Demons appear in the form of dead people coming back to life.  The Israeli Defense Force, utilizing soldiers and fighter jets attempts to repel them. Now Sarah, Rachel, and Kevin are on the run trying to flee the city. Kevin foresaw this, but no one believed him. In fact, our hunk was deposited in a mental asylum for his grim prophecy. As Sarah rescues her beau from the Kosher nut house, Jerusalem seems to be falling.  No more spoilers, but get ready for the wildest Google glasses scene one could ever imagine.

Rachel in more peril

Can our trio escape the apocalypse? Is a biblical apocalypse merely an exaggerated plot device designed to warn us of the evils of pre-marital sex? Wild and ambitious, and probably not totally biblically accurate, "JeruZalem" is a lot of fun.  Filmed in Israel with stunning scenes of Jerusalem, this is a very interesting horror film (infinitely better than "World War Z" or "Left Behind") with consequences of biblical proportion.  "JeruZalem" is available on Netflix.

Embrace of the Vampire, The Alyssa Milano Version

A few years ago this blog brought you the remake of 1995's "Embrace of the Vampire." Click on this link to see that review EMBRACE  . While the erotic remake seems to be aimed at fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," the original resembles a Gothic romance story with a vampire. Critics of the remake will quickly remind us that the original does have Alyssa Milano, often nude, to boast of. Fair enough. The more feminine version is directed by Anne Goursand.

Charlotte (Milano) raised by nuns, and a devout Catholic, is a virgin and always wears white.  Actually, when she wears clothes, they are white, but in this film, that is sporadic. Oh no...she just happened to remind a centuries old vampire (Martin Kemp) of his long lost love.  Our vampire was a French nobleman until three vampire nymphs had their way with him.  Lucky him, he has found his true love on a college campus in the form of a 17 year old virgin.  Now, don't ask why, our bloodsucker has three days to bite her or risks losing her forever. As the vampire begins playing with Charlotte's mind, she begins to have weird visions and seems drawn to her nemesis.

As Charlotte's hunk BF, Chris (Harrison Pruett), realizes he is losing his virginal coed, the vampire seems a sure bet to end up with her.  Leaving nothing to chance, the vampire unleashes doubt in both their minds about their love, and also Marika (Jennifer Tilly), to seduce Chris.  The vampire begins attacking Charlotte's classmates, including the trashy Eliza (Jordan Ladd).  Uh oh....Charlotte begins to explore alternate sexual norms, including a lesbian tryst with Sarah (Charlotte Lewis). With time running out, the vampire must make his move. Has Chris been sufficiently distracted?

Nudity galore, orgies, some gore, and some underage romance highlight this tale of the pursuit of pre-marital sex with Alyssa Milano.  A bit different than the remake, the original "Embrace of the Vampire" is still a nice vampire story.  Available on YouTube, treat yourself to an atmospheric, erotic horror/fantasy.

The Throne of Fire, Swords...Magic....Sultry Princess

Sabrina Siani was a very beautiful Italian horror and exploitation film actress.  Jesus Franco called her one of the worst actresses he ever worked with.  Translation....she never had pre-marital sex with him.  Ms. Siani not only worked in Europe, but also made an action flick in North Korea (click on this link to see a review of that film Ten Zan ). In 1983's "The Throne of Fire" (Il Trono di Fuoco) she plays a sultry princess clad only in an animal skin bikini, boots, and a large sword.

Princess Valkarin (Siani) is captured by the evil Morak (Harrison Muller, Jr.). Morak is a spawn of Satan and prophecy dictates that if he kills the king, marries the Princess on an eclipse, he will rule the world.  Of course, the Princess refuses to marry him, so he kills her people and tries to break her will.  Not all is as hopeless as it seems, as the handsome warrior Siegfried (Pietro Torrisi) sets off to rescue her and kill Morak.  Siegfried has lots of shiny muscles but is dumber than a bag of lug-nuts. His heart is in the right place, but he keeps getting the Princess re-captured.

Realizing that her Prince Charming has an empty attic, Valkarin takes matters into her own hands. As she tells Siegfried, "...a girl has weapons no man has."  Using her sex-appeal, our beauty escapes...but wouldn't you know it...she needs to rescue her dimwit rescuer.  This won't be hard to believe, but Morak is smarter than both of our protagonists and has set a trap for them.  If successful, Valkarin will be forced to marry him and our hunk-with-no-brain will assume room temperature.

Can Valkarin's weapons of womanhood and a really big sword overcome Marok's quest? If successful, will Valkarin marry the dolt Siegfried?  Did Ms. Siani's refusal to sleep with ugly and smelly directors and producers cut her career short?  "The Throne of Fire" (directed by Franco Prosperi) is much fun, and Ms. Siani is always a pleasure to watch on the screen.  Available on YouTube, see "The Throne of Fire," a perfect Italian sword and magic exploitation film.

ARQ, Time Loop got you Down?

Yogi Berra informed us that this was Deja Vu all over again. Like Yogi Berra, films about time loops can be both interesting and annoying.  In this Netflix original film, "ARQ" the Yankee Hall of Famer's maxim will be tested.  Written and directed by Tony Elliott, this terse scifi tale will exercise our minds and leave us trusting no one.

Evil globalist corporation TORUS has destroyed and conquered the world.  Renton (Robbie Amell) designed the ARQ for them.  Uh oh, Renton realizes that TORUS is evil and runs away with his creation.  Double uh oh....the ARQ is able to loop time, which initially comes as a surprise to Renton. The good news for Renton, and there isn't much, time is doing a three hour loop which begins with him waking up to his old GF, Hannah (Rachael Taylor).  The good news ends here. Shortly after waking next to this beautiful woman the home invasion occurs.

The invaders? They may be The Block....an ill equipped group of rebels bent on stopping TORUS. Or maybe they are someone else.  Advantage Renton, as he remembers the past loops and can correct his mistakes every three hours.  The learning curve for Renton is a steep one, and some of the revelations he uncovers will be painful.  Man should not be alone and eventually Hannah begins remembering. Now our duo seeks to turn the table on the evil forces.  As the loops continue, Hannah and Renton will have some difficult decisions to make which could have fatal consequences.

Ms. Taylor and Mr. Amell are fantastic, and we pray that neither one of them ends up being a villain. In these types of tales with so many twists, this is always a possibility.  The story is fast paced and contains a deep and ominous ending.  Kudos to Netflix for creating a rather good science fiction tale.