From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)

Yesterday was a day full of appointments and driving in traffic,  so when I was able to relax last night I wanted something interesting for my evening movie. After some thought, I decided to visit the horror icon, Vincent Price in 1987s From a Whisper to a Scream.

Plot: Beneath the small-town exterior of Oldfield, Tenn., lies a history of shocking violence and terrifying phenomena, as recounted by local historian.

Horror anthologies have been a mixed bag through the years ranging from dark to lighthearted comic entries. This one is on the darker side and one that is a lot better than I would have expected.  The four dark macabre stories are interesting and add a creepiness the is lacking from many anthologies of the era. The cast, performances, and look of the film are good for the time of direct to VHS horror. Unfortunately, Price plays a minor part as the narrator, while it was good, his talent could have added even more to the movie with more screen time. This is a good horror film and one that should be enjoyed. 

Night Train to Terror (1985)

After spending some time at the lake at a youth fishing derby yesterday, I thought it was time to look back at one of the flicks that I suffered through before I left New Jersey. The flick is the God and Satan conversational anthology Night Train to Terror from 1985.

Plot/ God and Satan are on a train discussing the fate of three individuals. The stories of the people in question are told in a trio of very strange vignettes. One involves an insane anylum with some very interesting treatment plans. Another involves a 'death club'. The final story shows us the adventures of a server of Satan.

After watching this flick, all I could do is sit back and laugh, it was technically THAT BAD. On top of that, the storylines were so disjointed that no matter how many times you watch it, it still will not make sense. This anthology has a decent cast, but even that does not help. The acting is uneven to terrible, the gore is a mish-mash of poor special effects, the claymation is just BAD, and what nudity is there is pointless. Not to mention that the cinematography may be even worse.  Ironically, the film is decently entertaining and one that is just bad enough to create some memorable moments (in a bad way). In the end, I would not seriously recommend this one, but if you have some time on your hands and already own this collection, it may be worth the 90 minutes.

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The Silent Scream (1980)

Growing up during the slasher craze of the 1980s, I always enjoy watching any movie from the era. Any time that I can find something that I have not seen is even better. One such flick is 1980s the Alfred Hitchcock influenced The Silent Scream starring Cameron Mitchell and Barbara Steele.

Plot/ Scotty moves into Mrs. Engels' seaside mansion where three other college students are boarding. Mrs. Engels prefers to stay in her room in the attic, but her son Mason helps the students get settled. Soon one of the students is killed. The policemen on the case begin uncovering the Engels family secret as the remaining students become endangered.

This was definitely more me, than Kick Ass. This early 1980s entry is an underrated flick that relies more on creepy atmosphere than gore, and delivers. The performances are solid (especially Barbara Steele who may steal the show with silence), the plot is sound, and the soundtrack and cinematography create a truly heavy and uneasy feeling throughout. All is not perfect, some characterization is off and the pacing maybe a little slow, really nothing major. In fact, in my opinion the pacing is a key to building tension. All-in-all, this early slasher, while not original (a modernized Psycho?), is one of the better entries in the genre and a definite must see for fans of atmospheric flicks and Hitchcock.

The Demon (1979)

Time to continue venturing into the Cult Horror Collection set. Recognizing the titles, I felt like I would try to get the snoozers out of the way by viewing Cameron Mitchell’s The Demon from 1979 tonight. While I know that this low budget entry will not live up to some of the others from the set, I must be fair and give it equal time.

Plot / A psychopath is on the loose and an ex-U.S. Marine psychic, Colonel Bill Carson, is brought in to track the psycho and try and find out what happened to their Daughter.

When I saw the title, I thought I had suffered through this before, but was not sure. Then it started and I realized that indeed was the case, but never-the-less, I struggled through this disjointed mess. Yes, there are some (a few) good spots in this attempt to ride on the coattails of Halloween; there is some decent atmosphere and the acting is tolerable. However, that is about where the good starts and the bad begins. The movie changes direction about half way through (which is hard to believe with such a clichéd plot) , it moves quite slow and the gore is non-existent. On top of that the lack of a budget was really apparent throughout. All in all, it was really not a very good movie. At least I know that my next entry from this set, Deep Red, is a much better film and one that I will enjoy watching and reviewing.

Memorial Valley Massacre (1988)

After some debate with the voices in my head, I decided to finish disc 1 of Cult Horror Collection. The last movie on that disc is Memorial Valley Massacre from 1988. Unfortunately, this is one film I had never seen (or heard of) before and having spent most of the 1980s knee deep in slasher’s I am not expecting much.

Plot / With the Memorial Day holiday quickly approaching, a campground struggles with its polluted water, unsafe roads, old equipment, and a criminally insane hermit who comes out of isolation in order to murder every last campground visitor.

This movie was definitely the downside to disc 1. I will admit it had enough cliché to make it a 1980s slasher flick, I.E. low-budget/low expectations. The characters were bland and appeared very one-dimensional. The plot based around a strange feral killer that was supposedly lost for 17-plus years in the wilderness was definitely a bit of a stretch and to top it off the death scenes are bad with minimal gore or effects. To be honest, I was confused at what direction the film was supposed to be going in horror, comedy or both. Unfortunately, for me, it missed the mark in all aspects. Fans of camp based slasher’s may enjoy this one, but if you are searching for a similar but better slasher from that era, try the Burning, it is a much superior entry.

Nightmare in Wax (1969)

One movie down and one flick to go to meet my goal of completing the Gorehouse Greats Collection this weekend. My first selection was the 1969 Cameron Mitchell entry Nightmare in Wax.

Plot/ A former film special effects engineer who is disfigured by Max, a rival for the affections of a woman. Leaving the film industry, Vince opens a wax museum just as popular stars of the screen start to go missing. Those selfsame stars soon feature as wax models in the museum.

This was a fun film, not great or even relatively good, but fun. Cameron Mitchell does a great job in this one, possibly his better performances (especially when hamming it up with his creations). The rest of the acting is mediocre, which makes the scripts flaws even more evident. The scenery, the idea of creating live zombified figures and the wax figures of the Hollywood greats are done really well, but that is about where the good parts of the movie end. In all, an ok film that had its moments, while it is not for everyone, one could do far worse than spending 90 minutes with this flick.