Reviews

Small wonder that Robert Ginty, star of the 1980 exploitation film 'The Exterminator' and also 1982(?) horror opus 'The Alchemist' has pretty much dropped off the radar. He is a rather bland, unconvincing actor, as his weak performance as John Eastland in 'The Exterminator' indicates. Let's face it; the guy has nothing on Bronson (R.I.P.).

Designed to cash in on the success of the similarly-themed 'Death Wish', 'The Exterminator' commences with one of the most thrilling opening shots ever, thrusting the viewer right into the heart of the action - in this case, the Vietnam conflict. We are introduced to the character of John Eastland (Robert Ginty) and his negro buddy and fellow soldier Michael Jefferson (Steve James). Eastland is saved from a violent death at the hands of the Vietcong by Jefferson, and the two flee the carnage with some other soldiers in a chopper.

The action then moves to New York, where Eastland and Jefferson are working together handling deliveries of various merchandise. When a group of thugs attempt to steal several crates of beer from a storeroom at Eastland's and Jefferson's workplace, the latter two leap into action and foil the theft with some fancy fistwork. But the thugs enact a chilling revenge: they trail Jefferson in their car and, once they have him alone, trounce him severely, breaking his neck in the process. At his hospital bedside, Eastman promises Jefferson that he will avenge his buddy. Thus, the Exterminator is born.

'The Exterminator' is a real guilty pleasure, and it is great to see Christopher George as Detective James Dalton. I believe he starred in Lucio Fulci's 'City of the Living Dead' the same year. I have been searching for 'Exterminator' and its sequel for about fifteen years, and it was great to finally locate the first movie on DVD. A big shout-out to Paramount for releasing it.

This film has some pretty violent moments; in one scene Eastman sets a pervert on fire and, in the scene which follows, we see his smouldering remains (early special effects makeup from both Tom Burman and Stan Winston). In another sequence, a man is lowered into an industrial-sized meatgrinder. Nasty.

I must say, I did like the ending, especially the song which plays as the end credits roll - 'Theme For An American Hero', written and sung by Chip Taylor. During the course of his investigation into the man the press have nicknamed 'the Exterminator', Dalton embarks upon a romance with Doctor Megan Stewart (Samantha Eggar) - one of Stewart's patients is the now-paralysed Jefferson. But this romance does nothing to advance the plot and seems to exist solely to pad out the running time. Do check this flick out if vigilante revenge thrillers are your bag; it passes the time quite agreeably. Ready for the sequel's DVD release now, Paramount!

To call 'Plutonium Baby' a stinker would be the understatement of the year. This is the second worst film I have ever seen. Don't get me wrong; I love bad horror - the worse the better. But what I simply cannot abide is the subgenre I like to refer to as Boring Horror. And 'Plutonium Baby' is excruciatingly, mind-numbingly dull - ten minutes into this Thanksgiving dinner of a movie, I was praying for it to end. It has a duration of only eighty-five minutes but it feels like forever. Couple this with low-rent special effects and dreck actors, and you have a thoroughly awful affair.

The only positive thing I can say about 'Plutonium Baby' is that it is marginally better than Troma's dire 'Igor and the Lunatics', which is the worst film I have ever viddied, and which was voted by 'Entertainment Tonight' as the 'Worst Film Ever Made'. Like 'Plutonium', 'Igor' is a crushing bore.

Other Boring Horror titles to be carefully avoided are 'Demon Wind' starring George Kennedy, and 'A Name for Evil' (or, as I prefer to call it, 'A Name for Tedium'!) starring Robert Culp and Samantha Eggar. Don't get burned!

One of the most obscure horror films out there, 'Satan's Blade' offers a very cool premise - whomever wields the Devil's knife becomes possessed and commits murder - and then just shambles along unimaginatively. This is a very lacklustre affair, with somnambulist performances and very little blood.

A violent bank heist opens the film, after which the perpetrators of said robbery flee to a remote mountain resort to kick back and count the loot. But then a double cross has the red, red kroovy flowing once again. Shortly after this, the titular weapon is plunged into flesh, cueing a series of formulaic stalk 'n' slash dispatches. It is kind of a pity to watch this film deteriorate into dull routine after quite a promising start.

One of the best things about 'Satan's Blade' is the poster art - a frightening, not-to-messed-with Lucifer clasping a nasty-looking dagger, holding it up as though about to bring it down and through the heart of a young virgin upon a sacrificial altar. But, as any experienced horror viewer knows, one must never judge a flick by its poster art. This is especially true in the case of 'Satan's Blade' because the artwork promises great things, but the movie itself cheats us out of any real blood and gore. It kind of reminds me of another horror outing entitled 'A Name for Evil', in that both films offer excellent cover art but deliver very little when it comes to the crunch... or should I say the squish?!

In 'Maniac''s DVD audio commentary by director William Lustig, Lustig says that someone suggested he make a 'Jaws' on land. The infamous 'Maniac' is Lustig's attempt to do just that. Which is why, according the director, the opening double murder unfolds on a wintry, windswept beach. This is a highly controversial and much-maligned film, featuring some of the most intense gore ever committed to film. Special effects makeup infant terrible Tom Savini really cuts loose on this one, serving up scalpings, stabbings, evisceration, and - most memorably - an exceedingly graphic shotgun murder. The victim in the shotgun dispatch scene, credited as Disco Boy, is played by none other than Tom Savini, in a cameo. So, in a sense, Savini kills himself... paging Doctor Freud! Great to see scream queen Caroline Munro in this one; I am hoping to track down another stalk 'n' slash horror she made with 'Maniac' star Joe Spinell entitled 'The Last Horror Film'.

'Maniac' stars Joe Spinell as Frank Zito, a deranged serial killer with mother issues, who stalks the streets of New York by night, committing some very grisly murders. He becomes romantically entangled with Caroline Munro's character, a fashion model. In his excellent book 'Terror on Tape', James O'Neill observes that this plot development is contrived - surely such an alluring and beautiful woman would not deign to become involved with such a sweaty, drooling, overweight slob. Good point.

Tom Savini really shines on this one, if 'shines' is the right word! Like his horrific makeup work on 'The Burning' and 'Day of the Dead', 'Maniac' showcases some of his most extreme stuff. Without his invaluable contribution, this film would probably just be an obscure yawnfest. The thing that really disturbs about 'Maniac' is the fact that, like the critically-acclaimed Australian serial killer horror flick 'Wolf Creek', it is very realistic. The storyline is quite believable, with the exception of the homage to 'Carrie' and the ending.

Another thing Lustig reveals upon the DVD's director's commentary is the fact that a sequel, written by Spinell, commenced shooting but was abandoned upon Spinell's death. This extras-laden DVD release features a great documentary about Spinell, 'The Joe Spinell Story'. I have the Anchor Bay DVD release, but a big shout-out to Australia's Umbrella Entertainment for putting out a PAL-format DVD with all the extras offered by the Anchor Bay copy.

'Street Trash' the most offensive film ever made? Quite possibly. This baby is exceedingly hard to locate, which is unfortunate, because it is an outlandish, unapologetic delight with a wonderful streak of black, black humour. Director Jim Muro has since become one of the most respected Steadicam operators in the business, and has worked his magic upon some pretty big pictures. I believe he was the Steadicam operator on 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', but I might be wrong.

When an enterprising liquor store owner in New York's Lower East Side(?) finds a dusty crate of something named Tenafly Viper stashed behind a brick wall in a back room of his place of business, he decides to sell it cheaply to the bums in the neighbourhood who are his chief customers. But Tenafly Viper is strong stuff indeed; strong enough to melt one's body! And you thought hangovers were bad.

Pretty soon, the homeless population around the liquor store is dwindling as more and more of these unfortunates consume this deadly drop and promptly disintegrate. The first bum to imbibe the killer stuff does so while seated upon a filthy lavatory. He melts into the commode, pulls the chain, and flushes himself away! Truly tasteless, n'est pas? Two more memorable scenes from 'Street Trash' come to mind: in one, a man has his penis bitten off; in the other, a man is spectacularly decapitated by a flying gas cylinder. I read in Fangoria(?) that this scene required eight special effects crew members to pump blood! 'Street Trash' reminds me of Peter Jackson's wonderful 'Bad Taste' which, while far superior to 'Street Trash', is in the same outrageous vein. I guess it might also be likened to 'The Incredible Melting Man', although the special effects makeup in that picture was provided by the legendary Rick Baker - his first film? - and so is much better than anything in 'Street Trash'.

'Street Trash' is an excellent title, because trash is what this film is all about. Its milieu is grimy and bleak, and everything about the whole affair is inherently unclean. Oh yeah, I just remembered another memorable scene: a cop fights a man in a men's room, and beats him to the ground. Then the cop sticks two digits down his own throat and vomits upon the prone man! Pretty sick (excuse the pun)! This film also makes me think of John Waters in its examination of white trash, something Waters did with films such as 'Desperate Living' and 'Pink Flamingoes'. Like those flicks, 'Street Trash' serves up plenty of gross-out gags so, if that is what floats your boat in a movie, then you will certainly enjoy this. I hope 'Street Trash' has a huge cult following, and I suspect it does. And deservedly so.

When oh when oh WHEN is the DVD Special Edition going to be released?! I for one await it with great anticipation. By the way, if you do find this film, do not miss the song which plays over the end credits - very funny stuff! The last time I watched 'Street Trash' I was laughing because one of the bums reminded me of Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes fame. Sorry, Mr Robinson... no offence intended!

'The Deadly Spawn' (onscreen title) is surely one of the great video nasties of the early eighties. Like 'Parasite' which was released a year before this film, 'Deadly Spawn' is one of a plethora of movies which attempted to cash in on the huge success of Ridley Scott's brilliant 1979 science fiction-horror flick 'Alien'. Other such films which shamelessly ripped off 'Alien', hoping to duplicate its success, were 'Horror Planet' AKA 'Inseminoid' and 'Xtro' (these two were British offerings), 'Alien Terror' (a Spanish cheapie), and 'Creature' AKA 'The Titan Find'. No doubt I have missed many other titles... additions most welcome! As 'The Deadly Spawn' opens, a meteorite plunges to Earth, landing near some campers. Witnessing the landing, the two campers investigate - unwisely - and are quickly dispatched by ravenous flesh-eating creatures from outer space. These unwelcome visitors from the great beyond then make their way to a nearby suburban house where they hole up in the cellar and take on all comers with some very gory results.

The creature design is splendid; the mechanical creature effects are a little shaky. But who cares - this is classic B grade escapism and, often in the case of films like this, the worse the special effects, the more fun it is.

If the mechanical creature effects are a trifle dodgy, then they are more than compensated for by the excellent special makeup effects. I read that the guy who provided these effects has gone on to work on some pretty big pictures, and deservedly so.

The film centres largely upon four teenagers - one of whom gets about dressed like a hillbilly simpleton! - and a young boy, the younger brother of one of the aforementioned teenagers, who is a horror movie aficionado. 'The Deadly Spawn' offers plenty of blood and gore to ensure that the eyelids remain firmly fixed in the 'Up' position, and even offers some unintentional gross-out humour - witness the scene in which a group of middle-aged women unwittingly eat Deadly Spawn Salad. A gross-out classic! This is a creature feature, plain and simple, and as such, it is totally kickass.

Perhaps one of the best things about 'The Deadly Spawn' is the speed with which it establishes its thesis. So many of these horror movies keep us hanging on, watching some hapless character wander about in semi-darkness while we wait for a bloody pay-off. But, within about the first twenty minutes of 'Deadly Spawn', there have already been several gruesome deaths.

I was enormously excited to read that this film has been released on DVD by Synapse, and I look forward to acquiring a copy. 'The Deadly Spawn' is pretty hard to find nowadays but, if you do get your hands upon a copy, you are in for a real treat.

Lamberto Bava's 'A Blade in the Dark' is so much better than his directorial debut, 'Macabre'. Why 'Macabre' attracted so much critical favour is beyond me; it is boring and bloodless. 'Blade', on the other hand, is stylish, atmospheric and, in places, extremely bloody. Argento is clearly an influence here; the gruesome murder set pieces recall his more excessive moments. But, unlike the average Argento film, with 'Blade' one actually has at least some idea as to what is going on! 'Blade' focuses upon a film music composer who moves into a villa in Tuscany in order to work on his latest score without distractions. Pretty soon he is embroiled in a murder mystery, and an unseen killer haunts his every step.

I love these Italian 'giallo' horror flicks, and this one is not bad at all. It is quite reminiscent of Argento's 1975 film 'Profondo Rosso' ('Deep Red') in that the central character is a musician, an ordinary guy who becomes mixed up - against his will - in extraordinary and disturbing circumstances.

Well worth a look, 'Blade' is also known as 'The House of the Dark Staircase'. Now doesn't THAT sound frightening?!

This is a real sleeper, although the presence of screenwriter Dan O'Bannon's ('Alien') name in the credits automatically assures us we are in for a treat. And this is most certainly the case; 'Dead and Buried' is a real class act. James Farentino is excellent as the bewildered sheriff of the small American fishing community of Potter's Bluff. And the opening scene, in which an unsuspecting photographer is burned alive in broad daylight, still shocks more than twenty years after the film's release. To reveal too much of the plot would be to spoil the surprise; suffice it to say that it involves a series of bizarre and brutal murders investigated by Farentino's character.

Stan Winston provides some great special makeup effects; witness the particularly gruesome sequence in which a man is embalmed... while still alive! Also, Lisa Blount appears as the seductive young lady on the beach in the opening scene (she can be seen in 'John Carpenter's Prince of Darkness'), and watch out for a fledgling Robert Englund before he rose to international stardom as serial killer Freddy Krueger in the 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' franchise. 'Dead and Buried''s final twist is really kick-ass and wonderfully macabre, and it wraps up a creepy, atmospheric outing. Definitely worth a look.

Released in 1976 and starring Sissy Spacek and John Travolta, 'Carrie' is an excellent film adaptation of Stephen King's first novel, which was published in 1974. The second scene of the film, set in a high school women's communal shower stall, is intensely disturbing and sets the scene most effectively for what is to come.

Sissy Spacek captures the pain and awkwardness of Carrietta White, a put-upon young woman who lives with her Margaret, her VERY strict Catholic single mother. Margaret has a proclivity for locking her daughter in a small closet for hours on end when she - Margaret - believes the young woman has sinned. Cruel and unusual treatment, indeed.

What separates Carrie from others is her special gift - that of telekinesis. This is the ability to move objects using only the power of the mind, and is a real and well-documented - if rare - phenomenon.

Great to see a young John Travolta as Billy, Chris Hargenson's (Nancy Allen) jerk boyfriend. This is Travolta's second film; he made his film debut in Robert Fuest's 1975 horror classic 'The Devil's Rain', but was practically unrecognisable in his role. For my money, 'The Devil's Rain' is one of the greatest horror movies EVER and is strangely overlooked - no one seems to mention it when discussing the great horror movies. The film's final shot will haunt your dreams... if you can sleep after viddying it, that is!

Anyhow... back to 'Carrie'. This film contains director Canadian director Brian De Palma's trademark split-screen effect in places, and it works quite well. Great work from Nancy Allen, who was married to De Palma at one stage. Her characterisation of Chris Hargenson is spot-on. Hargenson is a cold hard bitch who loathes Carrie 'with the fire of a thousand suns'! And a big shout-out to Amy Irving as Sue Snell; quite a capable performance. William Katt fits the bill as the high school's resident football star and golden boy; whatever happened to this actor? Have not seen him in anything since Steve Miner's 'House'.

'Carrie' is definitely one of the best King adaptations, although I feel that 'The Shawshank Redemption', based on King's novella 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption', is the finest one yet.

Perhaps the greatest thing about portraying Alexander Oldknowe in the 1986 BBC Children's Television series 'The Children of Green Knowe' was meeting Lucy M. Boston, who wrote the novel upon which the four-part series was based, and who also wrote 'The River at Green Knowe'. She was a delightful lady, and I remember that we - myself and the other principal cast members - had our photograph taken with her.

Also great to work with Heather Ramsay, who played my mother. She noticed that I was reading Stephen King's awesome 1985 short story collection 'Skeleton Crew' during the making of the series, and recommended the work of acclaimed British horror author Ramsey Campbell. Thanks heaps, Heather!

Great too to work with the very talented Danny Schiller, who played Gabriel, the manic choirmaster. Danny went on to play Snorri the Miserable in Terry Gilliam's hilarious 'Erik the Viking' and also to portray a barrister in the 1992 thriller 'Under Suspicion', which starred Liam Neeson and Laura San Giacomo. And after all these years, I still remember the lyrics of song I sing before the King and his court (by the way, the banquet that you will descry laid out was fireproofed, so no one was game to pick at it!):-

Return, return you happy men/To your own blessed shades again/Lest staying long some new desire/In your cool bosom raise a fire/Like a perfumed gale o'er flowers/Now glide again to your own bowers

Saw Polly Maberly in an episode of 'Frost' in early 2001, and she acquitted herself very well indeed. She has grown into quite the young lady.

As Montague H. Withnail declares in 'Withnail and I', 'Alas! I have little more than vintage wine and memories'. But what memories!

James Trevelyan (Alexander Oldknowe)

Gore galore and a Rick Wakeman score! (This should have been the film's tagline!) A camp caretaker is the victim of a practical joke at the hands of some students; the stunt goes horribly wrong and he is left with severe burns to most of his body. Years later, he returns to the camp to go on the obligatory bloody rampage. And bloody it is indeed - some splendid special makeup FX work from the brilliant Tom Savini, the year after he provided a memorably gory demise for Jack (Kevin Bacon) in 'Friday the 13th' (1980). And great to see a fledgling Holly Hunter and Jason Alexander. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't 'The Burning' the first film to be released by Miramax, the studio headed by Harvey Weinstein? (Weinstein produced 'The Burning' and co-wrote the story).

The film was directed by Tony Maylam who also helmed 1992's 'Split Second', which I viddied the other night... what dreck! Anyhow, getting back to 'The Burning'... A young Fisher Stevens puts in an appearance too. The killer wields a large pair of hedge shears and uses them to good effect, slashing throats, impaling and, in one particularly grisly scene, chopping off a young man's fingers and causing them to fly into the air.

One of the great video nasties of the early eighties, 'The Burning' is pretty cool. And, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, Rick Wakeman of progressive rockers Yes, provides the score. So, if you like it wet, then 'The Burning' you must get!

'Rigged' is essentially a mediocre film adaptation of James Hadley Chase's excellent 1958(?) pulp crime novel 'Hit and Run'. The dangerously bland Ken Roberson stars as Mace Morgan, a young, up-and-coming employee of a successful oil drilling firm (hence the film's title). When Mace's boss, played by George Kennedy, breaks a leg, he invites Mace to his home to discuss various work-related matters. It is here that Mace meets Monique, his boss' nubile young wife. Monique begs Mace to teach her how drive, and he does so in his expensive sports car. But one night, after Monique takes exception to Mace's romantic overtures, she takes off in his car and perpetrates a hit and run (hence the novel's title). Her victim is a motorcycle cop, and the heat comes down big-time. But, as Mace soon discovers, things are not at all what they seem. 'Rigged' is pretty obscure and, because of this, very hard to find. Do yourself a favour and, instead of searching for the movie, introduce yourself to the work of James Hadley Chase, who was quite a prodigious author until his death in 1985. I recently read another of his books, entitled 'The Whiff of Money' (1969), which was, like 'Hit and Run', very cool. Chase reminds me of an ersatz Raymond Chandler or perhaps James Ellroy. 'Rigged' is painfully eighties - check out the wonderfully cheesy music! And the character of Monique, who is facile and whiny, is rather grating. Anyhow, that's my two cents' worth!