User Reviews

Historically important as the first filmmaking effort for the young Oliver Stone, "Seizure" will likely not appeal to certain genre fans. There's no gore - there are always cut aways when something violent happens - there isn't much sleaze (although Mary Woronov looks mighty fetching wearing very little), and the script tends to favour talk over action. Still, if anything, "Seizure" is an interesting film. It could be argued that there's simply too much exposition, but Stone and his co-writer Edward Mann do give the film a philosophical nature. It's definitely a thinking persons' horror film, albeit one with some decent atmosphere and a respectable amount of weirdness.

'Dark Shadows' star Jonathan Frid plays Edmund Blackstone, a horror novelist who's having some friends over at his country home for the weekend. Edmund is plagued by nightmares, and soon these friends and Edmund & his family will fall prey to some characters that Edmund may have dreamed into existence. First is the Queen of Evil, played by sultry cult icon Martine Beswicke. Next is the hulking, scar faced Jackal (Henry Judd Baker). Finally, we have a malevolent dwarf named The Spider (played by Herve Villechaize of 'Fantasy Island' fame). They subject their victims to various cruel games, pitting character against character.

The acting is variable from a cast also including the super sexy Woronov, Joseph Sirola, Christina Pickles, Troy Donahue, and Richard Cox. Frid is fairly intense, and his scenes with Roger De Koven as his confidante Serge provide the film with a degree of humanity and thoughtfulness. De Koven is quite good, but it's Beswicke who steals the show; obviously she is enjoying herself. Villechaize (who was also the still photographer) is amusing, but his thick accent renders some of his dialogue hard to understand.

Worth a look for fans of Stone and his cast; it is intriguing now to see his humble beginnings.

Filmed in the Canadian province of Quebec.

Six out of 10.

Back in the spring of 1974, I was a freelance writer in Manhattan, New York. While at distributing office in New Jersey, the editor and publisher of the magazine " Castle of Frankenstein" asked me if I wanted to do an interview with Jonathan Frid, about his new film SEIZURE. Well having been a fan of both Frid and Dark Shadows, I jumped at the chance. After interviewing Frid in his apartment, I also had a telephone interview with Oliver Stone, who told me of his future projects. I, at the time was only interested in his current project, SEIZURE. Little did I know how important Mr. Stone would someday be. After meeting with and buying some photo's from the films photographer and co-star Herve' Villachaze " meeting him was a treat in itself" I did the article. After 6 month the film was released in New York. The best and only safe place to see it was, believe it or not, the Lyrick theatre of 42nd street. Now, not that Seizure was a masterpiece, but,in a time where horror films were almost non-existent this was a nice treat. The music, photography and editing were all top notch, as well as the entire cast, who all played their parts as over the top as humanly possible. Seizure was a high guilty low budget film, that to this day has gone nowhere. In the late 80's the film was released on video, but was soon pulled off the market mainly due to Oliver Stones objections. Too bad, with all of the high budget c.g.i. horror films out today, it would be nice to see a tale like Seizure, a low budget film that is packed with high quality acting and writing.

OK, this was Oliver Stone's first movie, so I'll cut him some slack (although Satyajit Ray and George Lucas didn't need any pity points for their stellar debuts, "Pather Panchali" and "THX 1138", respectively). Though attempting to make a low-budget horror film with serious undertones about the dark recesses of the unconscious mind, he has instead put a group of very capable actors into a series of macabre scenes - some of which are quite good - but that don't add up to much. And as for serious subtext, the movie ends up with about as much depth as a young adult horror novel. In addition, I didn't like the twist ending, as this same twist was used in literature over a hundred years previous.

The true strength of the movie comes from the casting of several iconic actors and actresses from various places ("Dark Shadows" and elsewhere). Though I had not seen any of these actors elsewhere, I give complements to the performances of both the dwarf actor Herve Villachaize and Martine Beswicke as the Queen of Evil. Beswicke, in particular, is the most darkly beautiful actress I have ever seen, and I could not keep my eyes off her whenever she was in a scene. Casting her as the ultimate villainess was a stroke of genius. I'm even tempted to say that her performance is the one best reason for seeing this movie (which is surprising, because Stone has never been very good at creating compelling female characters). Otherwise, there is little here to predict Stone's master craftsmanship on virtually all his films from the late '80s through early '90s.

* INTERESTING SIDENOTE: the newscaster voice narration at the end of the movie as the credits roll is that of Oliver Stone himself.

The only movie I can think of that I like less than this movie is Tree of Life.

How anyone ever thought this was worth making is beyond me.

Right from the get go, we are introduced to the lead, who makes you want to turn the movie off from the start - he is gross to listen to, look at, and has no personality other than being scared.

None of the other characters may as well exist at all either. None of them serve any real purpose or add anything to the story or make us feel anything. No comedic relief, no real horror, no characters or character development - just a non-threatening midget and a silent big black guy chasing a bunch of people around inside and outside of a house on a lake.

Typically I am a fan of BIZARRE movies, and I at least will admit this is one of the more bizarre films I have ever seen. But it simply doesn't offer a single thing that is in any way slightly enjoyable. It is truly one of those films where you are just asking yourself "Why am I still watching this? How did this get made? Why does this exist?" the entire time.

Mr. Stone has come a long way.

Horror writer Edmund Blackstone and his wife are hosting friends for a summer weekend holiday at their lakeside home. Three of his horror characters come to life for murder and mayhem. The guests are put into a cruel game. This is the directorial debut by Oliver Stone who shows some early competent work. The knife fight is a bit amateurish and the dreamscape is a bit confused. It is obviously done by a newbie. Some of the actors seem familiar including Hervé Villechaize of Fantasy Island fame. This has some interesting bits but it would be well served to skip the dream aspect.

Nothing if not bizarre, this barely-circulated low-budget horror item from Cinerama Releasing Corporation served as Oliver Stone's feature-film directing debut (which he also co-wrote and co-edited; his wife, Najwa Stone, served as art director). Jonathan Frid plays a writer with a wife and young son who is suffering from a frightening recurring nightmare. He has invited a motley assortment of friends to spend the weekend with his family in their lakeside house in the Québec mountains, but on their first night the group are attacked by three malevolent beings: a dwarf known as The Spider who claims to be older than God, a red-lipsticked evil queen who looks Vampira and a facially-mutilated strongman. The trio intends to kill all but one person in the house, but are these creatures real or manifestations of the writer's subconscious? Thoroughly repugnant tale with a masochistic undercurrent strikes some viewers as black comedy. Whether it is intentionally or unintentionally funny is up for debate, but it certainly doesn't showcase a promising talent from behind the camera. The actors (including a shaggy-haired Troy Donahue, looking burnt out, Hervé Villechaize and cult actress Mary Woronov) manage not to look silly, which in this instance is miraculous. *1/2 from ****

Oliver Stone's feature film debut concerns a horror author named Edmund (played by Dark Shadows' Jonathon Frid) who is plagued by nightmares. When he and his wife have a bunch of guests up to their isolated house for a relaxing weekend. After a few go missing, Edmund's friends and family are confronted with three awful beings who are manifestations of his nightmares. The guests are either killed or forced to go through a series of tests to see who deserves to live. Can anyone put a stop to this hellish nightmare? What a strange film! It's obviously very low-budget and has a distinct gritty 70s quality. The characters from Edmund's dreams are each fascinating and truly make a scene. We have the lovely Martine Beswick as the provocative and sultry "Queen of Evil," who appears to be the matriarch of the evil trio. There's also the exotic strongman giant Jackal (Henry Judd Baker) and a dwarf named Spider (none other than Hervé Villechaize!) who may be tiny but is just as evil! The trio's antics are amusing, but also very unsettling. The cast also features Troy Donahue in a random role as well as the iconic Mary Woronov, who plays a straight-forward "bored wife" role (yet still oh so very funny!), proving again that she has much more to offer than the camp factor. The score in the film is very fascinating and varied. At one point, there's a sudden persistent and deafening siren-like synth that I swear was swiped by Tarantino for "Kill Bill." While the film is eerie and unpredictable most of the time, it also has a very charming sense of humor that suits it well. I'm thrilled this rare film finally made it to DVD, but it really deserves a better treatment. The print is hard to see, especially in the nighttime scenes. Still, any fan of 70s horror should check out this quirky and original film.

It's commonly known that Oliver Stone served in Vietnam and that his most acclaimed masterpieces, most notably "Platoon", are based on his own traumatic experiences and the agonizing real-life horror situations that he witnessed over there. Perhaps his Vietnam luggage turned him into one of the greatest directors of all times, but it also must have caused a bit of permanent brain damage, if you ask me! How else would you explain the madness of "Seizure"; his long-feature debut released not that long after he returned from his tour of duty? This is a truly bonkers horror movie, half brilliant and half unendurable, but fascinating and hypnotizing enough to keep you glued to the screen. Jonathan "Barnabas Collins" Frid stars as Edmund Blackstone, a writer suffering from recurring nightmares featuring the villains of the horror story that he's trying to finish. Nothing but a bad case of writer's block, you'd say, but when Edmund and his wife are hosting a party during the weekend and welcome several guests in their lakeside house, the trio of villains literally pops up at the dining room window! They are: the ravishing but deadly Queen of Evil, the black and heavily mutilated giant referred to as Jackal, and the viciously cruel dwarf named Spider. They start killing off the guests, which isn't a bad thing since they are truly horrible people, but poor Edmund can't seem to figure out if they are real or hallucinatory. Debuting director Stone generates a reasonably tense and mysterious atmosphere, and "Seizure" certainly contains a few strong sequences, but the film is overall too dull and far too talkative. Especially Edmund's "reflective" moments, guided by a voiceover, are immensely long and meaningless, but the Queen of Evil also jibbers too much and even the dwarf would have been far more petrifying if he shut his mouth a little more! As mentioned already, the supportive characters are downright nasty. You often see in horror movies that an alleged group of friends doesn't get along, but these people here are the most arrogant, selfish, treacherous and despicable trolls I've ever seen! There's not a lot of gore, obviously, but nevertheless a few efficient shock-moments and solid performances from Jonathan Frid, Joseph Sirola and the breathtaking Martine Beswick! The eviler she gets, the sexier she becomes! The finale is logical and effectively abrupt, but not exactly original. There's a certain horror milestone from 1962 that ended with a similar twist already.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, Dark Shadows star Jonathan Frid stars in this shocker about a writer who has a recurring dream of three strange visitors who come to his home and reak havoc on all of his house guests. Herve Villechaize is wonderful in his role as the evil Spider. See Mary Woronov battle to the death with Johnathan Frid in hand to hand combat!

Seizure will be a point of interest to many simply for the fact that it is the feature film debut of Oliver Stone; made some years before he went on to make critically acclaimed films such as Platoon and JFK. Despite not being a big fan of the director; that was actually the thing that attracted me to this film also, and while I didn't go in expecting much; I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised as this is a surprisingly good low budget seventies horror movie. The film is halfway between a psychological horror and a slasher film and we focus on a troubled horror writer named Edmund Blackstone. He is plagued by a recurring nightmare which involves creations from his own literature terrorising him. He decides to invite some friends round to his isolated country home, but gets some uninvited guests in the form of those pesky evil characters he created; who proceed to break up the party by killing his guests.

Seizure features an obvious low budget and as such there is a very cheap feel to it. However, Oliver Stone gets over this problem well thanks to some very capable handling and an entertaining cast. The simple plot means that the director has plenty of time to build up his characters, and he does this well. The central location is isolated and that helps to build the tension as the innocent characters are trapped in the house at the centre of the film. The set of bad guys is undoubtedly the most interesting thing about the film; Martine Beswick leads the way as sultry 'Queen of Evil' and gets good back up from an exotic looking strongman as well as a menacing dwarf named 'Spider'. Things are kept interesting thanks to the immediate action and the dialogue between the central characters, as well as a few revelations. It all builds down to a satisfying conclusion that gives credence to the plot and main character. It's a shame this film is so obscure really because I'm sure it could find an audience and it's certainly not the worst film Oliver Stone ever made! Recommended, if you can find it.

I don't think any of the people who have commented on this film have seen it. I have the pleasure of buying the original video for this film at $5 (Amazon sell its for a laughable $20), and I wasn't disappointed.

Oliver Stone, the legend, the man, Vietnam Viet, makes his directing debut with this great horror flick about a writer (Jonathan Frid from Dark Shadows), who keeps having his nightmares that he is about to die, along with the rest of his family. This is a great flick, lots of suspense, some gore, and a twist at the end.

I have no doubt this flick inspired movies like "Nightmare On Elm Street" with it's emphasis on evil, illusions and nightmares that come to life.

Very hard to find, but it's well worth.

Oliver Stone can do it all.

It is not too complicated to look at what Oliver Stone was trying to do with his first feature film, Seizure, in that it is about the anxieties inherent in creating art. If you make a drawing or make a piece of writing or conjure up something out of nowhere, it is going to take on its own special properties and (to not sound too hyperbolic but it's sometimes very true) take on a life of its own.

Stone and his co writer decided to make this much more explicit in the story of an illustrator of Gothic things who somehow manages to bring to life some disturbing beings into existence. How they come into being is... I dunno, did you see the South Park Underpants Gnomes? (stage 1 collect underpants, stage 2..... stage 3 is profit, sort of like that)

While that intention of artistic creations that should be on a page only coming to life and wreaking havoc on a bunch of bourgeois house guests - including that ass Charles Hughes, played in one of the few memorable turns here by Joseph Sirola (you'll remember his name because he says it incredulously to a gas station attendant like 50 times in the early part of the movie) - sounds rather keen and interesting on paper, the execution of that is haphazard, obtuse and dreadfully plodding and full of dialog that you need the best actors in the world to make sound okay, and this has... the guy who played Barnabas Collins on Dark Shadows (who is trying!) and Mr De Plane de Plane Herve Villachaize.

Maybe Stone took this experience as a good sign for himself: you can only go up from here. Frankly I'm not sure he ever made something as messy and stinky dramaturgically as this (and boy did he try once or twice!) This whole film feels like someone really trying to impress with something in the idea stage that has far more depth that can be faced dramatically, but that might not be a problem if Stone understood the basic power more of having a demented good time with his premise. There's a moment when "the Spider" (Villachaize), after a couple of "gotcha" moments gazing like a creep through the window, crashes into this increasingly freaked out house party and caused some minor havoc, slashing up these snooty guests and not getting his.

It's the high point of the movie because Stone isn't afraid to get silly with it, or rather to let his actors to over the top. Again, someone like Sirola knows how to Amp things up to 11 (to the extent maybe Stone had a flashback or two to this when directing Pesci in JFK), but he is the exception. Other times, the pomposity of some of the cult-ritual staging strikes me as one step away from Manos: the Hands of Fate (but without the memorable costumes or horrific dubbing). But most damaging to the film is that Stone and the co writer don't bother to give much context to these evil creations, except for us to see brief flashes of the illustrations. Why do these matter so much to Edmond? Why are they haunting his nightmares? Shrug. Phase 2.

When it does mean to get horrific and violent it's also strangely, unsatisfyingly restrained (maybe Stone, unintentionally or who knows, didn't want to go too deep on creating violent imagery following his recent stint in Vietnam - staging horrific violence would come later), and yet it also falters just in making one feel suspense. When a character gets strangled there are multiple shots zooming in quickly and cutting quickly because hey ain't that s*** sick, bro? And meanwhile, there's only the same pained expression on Frid's face, punctuated occasionally by underlie outdoor scenes and creakily melodramatic music.

I'm glad Stone made Seizure ultimately; he learned from his mistakes pretty quickly, and even upon returning to horror several years later with The Hand he had improved despite that not being great shakes, either.

Oliver Stone's first film was this unpleasant but fascinating and clever thriller, which blurs the line between dreams and reality in a way that would later become very popular in the "Nightmare On Elm Street" films. The film is technically unpolished, with a crummy look and often inept editing. But it is also a disturbing experience that offers no easy redemptions, and as such it is recommended especially to people who enjoy films like "Alice, Sweet Alice". (**)

Horror writer Jonathan Frid (as Edmund Blackstone) gathers friends and family for an extended visit at his spooky home in the country. Planning to pen a nightmarish novel for children, Mr. Frid is plagued by bad dreams (and Mary Woronov in black underwear). Unfortunately, the "Dream Curse" seems to extend to Frid's house-guests, who are victimized by a fantastical trio of uninvited gatecrashers - beautiful Martine Beswick (the Queen), quirky Hervé Villechaize (the Dwarf), and menacing Henry Baker (the Giant). Eventually, the murderers threaten Frid's wife Christina Pickles (as Nicole) and cute son Timothy Ousey (as Jason).

The excellent cast, which could be described as "soap opera horror," also includes Roger De Koven (as Serge Kahn) and Anne Meacham (as Eunice Kahn). Several US daytime stars appear, with Frid's "Dark Shadows" being an obvious influence on writer/director Oliver Stone. Mr. Baker also appeared on the TV classic, in a role similar to the one he plays here. Generational icons include Troy Donahue (the 1950s), Frid (the 1960s), and Mr. Villechaize (the 1970s). Jack-of-all-trades Joseph Sirola (as "Uncle" Charlie Hughes) and risqué Richard Cox (as Gerald) are a tightly clad couple. Hopefully, deleted scenes are still a possibility.

****** Seizure (1974) Oliver Stone ~ Jonathan Frid, Martine Beswick, Herve Villechaize, Joe Sirola

Horror writer Edmund Blackstone and his wife Nicole (Jonathon Frid and Christina Pickles) are hosting a little gathering at their country estate. Both Edmund and Nicole have been plagued by the same nightmares featuring a woman known as "The Queen" and her creepy cohorts, "The Spider" (Herve Villechaize) and "Jackal" (Henry Baker).

Unbeknownst to either the Blackstones or their guests, nightmare is about to bleed into reality.

SEIZURE is an odd, macabre film directed by Oliver Stone, who proves that he has an eye for the grim, ghoulish, and grotesque!

Frid and Pickles are convincing as are their unfortunate houseguests. Cult goddess, Mary Woronov co-stars as Mikki Hughes. Her knife fight with Edmund is classic stuff!

Highly recommended for lovers of the bizarre and bleak...

I'm not saying that drugs were involved in the making of Seizure, but I wouldn't be at all surprised, especially considering that director Oliver Stone is no stranger to class-A narcotics. The film definitely feels like the work of people on mind-altering substances, featuring as it does bizarre characters and a hallucinatory plot that blurs the line between dreams and reality with extremely baffling results.

The film sees writer Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) and his wife Nicole (Christina Pickles) welcoming a group of friends to their lakeside house for the weekend. There's brash businessman Charlie (Joseph Sirola) and his willowy unfaithful wife Mikki (Mary Woronov), womanising stud Mark (Troy Donohue), and philosophical oldster Serge (Roger De Koven) and his wife Eunice (Anne Meacham), all of whom are plunged into a night of terror when three demented strangers - The Queen (Martine Beswick), The Spider (Hervé Villechaize) and Jackal (Henry Judd Baker) - crash the party with murder on their minds.

The origins of the film's terrible trio is unclear: are they the escaped lunatics mentioned in a radio broadcast, or are they characters from Edmund's books, somehow come to life? What is clear is that they intend to kill all but one of their victims before the night is through.

This was Stone's first feature film, and as such isn't as assured as his later, more acclaimed work - it's undeniably rough around the edges in terms of photography and editing. There is, however, plenty of the director's visual excess in evidence, with wild camerawork and rapid cuts, and unrestrained performances, particularly from Beswick, Villechaize and Woronov (would we expect anything less from such a B-movie/exploitation legend?). While I wouldn't pretend to understand precisely what is going on for much of the time, there's enough of interest going on to make it a reasonably entertaining one-time watch.

Any film that sees the diminutive Villechaize breaking through a window and duffing up several full-sized adults is going to have some entertainment value, but this one also delivers fun in the form of Woronov in her panties engaged in a knife fight, the friends competing for their lives by racing around the house, a wiener dog hanging from a tree, and Serge positing interesting back-stories for each of the villains. Sure, none of it makes much sense, but it's certainly different and never boring (although the death scenes could have done with being more graphic - they feel rather restrained given the film's general wild nature).

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

I've read that Oliver Stone has disowned Seizure. Understandable perhaps, unlike a lot of his later work its not a big film or a loud one, it doesn't declaim from on high on issues of society or politics. Rather its a small film, and a slightly pretentious one, not an important film and not the kind of pretension that can readily be spun to something greater. But its an interesting film, a decent little work of weird horror cinema, somewhat compelling and assured in its style. It tells of author Edmund Blackstone, writing a children's story but plagued by nightmares. His worries come to a head as he invites friends round for a weekend, when it transpires that three lunatics have escaped from an asylum, lunatics that mirror his imaginings and come to torment him and his guests with malevolent games. And as things go on it turns out that these aren't any ordinary escaped lunatics but something stranger, incomprehensible and unbound by space, an inescapable menace. The home invasion becomes fantasy, but what is really going on? It's an interesting set up and happily the cast is eclectic and well up to making it come alive. Jonathon Frid is the cold centre of the film as Edmund, Christina Pickles caring and affecting as his wife, afflicted more strongly by events. Joseph Sirola is a grand brassy grotesque as monstrous millionaire and cuckold Charles Hughes, Mary Woronov meanly spiky as his wife, Troy Donahue a suitably arrogant philanderer. Roger de Koven pleasant as the most likable of the characters, Ann Meacham his sadly disturbed wife good too. The villains really drive the film though, Herve Villachaize quirkily vicious as Spider, Henry Baker a strong and silent figure as Jackal, and best of all the alluring Martine Beswick black gowned as the Queen of Evil, her every word, every move dripping with cruelly regal poise. With all the cast gunning and sharing decent chemistry things can't help but grip, and a well handled pace ensures the films strong hold. The direction is quality too, freeze frames and snappily edited (Stone shares editing duties) close ups give violent scenes a punch, while rich and moody blues and oranges instill interesting atmosphere. Sadly there are notable flaws though. The film touches on an array of interesting themes, the isolation and arrogance of the artist, the notion of subconscious as ultimate judge, the enduring resonance of stereotypes in the imagination and more, but while such themes are a fun spice the film often tells rather than showing, with variously labored passages of writing. There's also an unfortunate lack of grue, with violent scenes either cutting away or having the nastiness just out of frame. Were the film generally saner and quieter this wouldn't be an issue but as is it comes across as pulling its punches. The ending is a tad off as well, a reasonable use of a slightly pat twist, but it doesn't really tie everything together and slightly exacerbates the problem of the aforementioned labored themes. Still, its a good little film. Creepy, well paced and engagingly weird, cult cast put to good use and passages of effective tension. Definitely worth a watch for enthusiasts of low budget 70's oddities and in general terms a worthy opus, but certainly flawed and no classic or anything

Seizure (1974)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Horror author Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) is having nightmares about three characters that he created for one of his stories. In the nightmare, the three (a vamp, a dwarf, a strongman) terrorize him, his family and friends on a weekend. Sure enough, his friends gather around for a weekend of fun and the killers show up.

SEIZURE was director Oliver Stone's first feature film and he has pretty much disowned the picture, which is a real shame. I say that because a lot of great directors got their start doing these type of horror or exploitation movies so for him to completely overlook it is a real shame. I also say that because the movie is actually a lot better than you might expect and it's certainly much better than some of the other horror movies that people got their start on.

I thought Stone did a very good job in his role as director. Sure, there's not really anything here that shows proof that he would go on to make such great movies as JFK and NATURAL BORN KILLERS but at the same time it's evident that he had talent. I really liked the surreal nature that he brought to the film and I thought he also managed to create a very good atmosphere. The entire film has a dreamlike (or nightmare) quality to it and I thought this here really helped keep the viewing glued to what was going on.

There's no question that the locations were quite good and I also really enjoyed the cast. Frid, best known for his Dark Shadows series, turns in a good performance as the writer and I thought the actor was very believable when it came time for his character to be terrorified. Jospeh Sirola is excellent as the meanest character and he's not even one of the villains! Herve Villachaize, Henry Baker and Martine Beswick are all extremely good as the bad guys.

There were spots in the film where it dragged and it's basically a "home invasion" picture but I do think it's a bit harsh for Stone to just write the picture off.

Who would have thought that Oliver Stone's debut movie would be a house invasion horror starring Hervé Villechaize as one of the chief villains? Yes its true and a psychotronic film it certainly is. Its about a writer whose recurring nightmare comes to life, where he, his family and friends are the victims of a house invasion by the Queen of Evil, a dwarf named Spider (Hervé!) and a scar-faced strongman named Jackal. Both Martine Beswick and Hervé are very good here as the Queen and evil dwarf. The film as a whole was quite good - it gets by a lot on its sheer WTFness. Its certainly considerably better than its ropey reputation suggests.