The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009) - Horror mad doctor

The Human Centipede: First Sequence (2009) - Part of the Terrorthon 10 horror festival at the Somerville Theater. REVISITED -Originally reviewed here on this blog in May 2010 it received a recommended but just barely. Viewing it for a second time I think I enjoyed it much more. My initial review focused on the idea of the human centipede, it is a shocking idea that I was mildly disgusted with. This second time with the idea not such a big new idea, watching the film was easier. The performance of Deiter Laser as Dr. Heiter was much more impressive. He was the mad scientist an egomaniac who wants to create something never done before. The idea of humans only comes to him after the three dog centipede he created died. I had not noticed in the first scene that he was looking at the dog version in snapshots before he shoots the truck driver. He is a man in grief trying to fill the hole left with their passing. What drives the movie is his performance and it is really well done. He has the look and the intense eyes and works the part to the max.
Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) are really underdeveloped but they do not need to be more complete than what we are given. They are victims and because of the downer ending their story arcs don't have to travel that far. Katsuro actually get to be more of a character and his outcome is a noble one, of course being the head is considerable more promising than being the tail, and poor Lindsay in the middle is really unfortunate.
The women are indeed foolish in their decision making to get into this position. They leave the road when they got a flat and although they can't have known the evil in Heiter's heart they did sense his strangeness but acted too slowly. There is also a bit of a logical flaw when they allow him to call the rental place for them since how would he know which rental place that was. Wouldn't they want to make that call? So they are captured and we get to see the cruelty of the doctor when the truck driver's tissue doesn't match that of the girls.
There are really a great scene after Heiter comes back with the trucker's replacement, the Japanese man Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura) who yells some very funny things in Japanese even though no one can understand him. The reaction of the three victims when the doctor explains with hand drawn slide what is in store for them is great. The mixture of WTF and then more WTF! and a sense that they are helpless, all actors pull this off but Katsuro in particular because he gets the idea of the operation just from the simple drawings. None of the three yet know where they are going to end up in this creation but it does not take long before that information comes out.
Lindsay gets free of her bonds and makes an escape. In a tense and well executed scene she looks like she is going to get away. Of course she doesn't get away and the punishment Lindsay suffers is because she failed in the number one rule when you escape an abductor. Never go back for your friend! You can get to help and than save your friend but going back always leads to bad things for you. In this case she earned the middle slot in the sequence.
After the operation we have less enjoyable scenes of the reaction of the victims as each wakes to realize the situation. Then of Heiter trying to train the human centipede as you would a dog. You see he is driven to replace his beloved dogapede and damn it if these humans are even more difficult to train. The rantings of our lead segment Katsuro, and the constant whimpering of the other two makes the doctor wish aloud that he had severed their vocal chords.
The squeamish should be wary of the effects of food on the human centipede. The first bowel movement is well acted but hard to watch. Then there is poor Jenny who does not do too well after the operation and seems to have an infection in her stapled face. As we move towards the climax of the film she is having a harder time staying upright.
When the cops come to the doctor about the missing girls he can not break his psychologically depraved desire to had to his creation and attempt the same drugging of the officers as he did the girls. It does not work out so well and in the end things get a bit crazy for the good doctor. Still trying to hold back the spoilers for this film no further information will be relayed here, other than the ending is not one of triumph of the human spirit over adversity. This film was much better on a second viewing.
Rating (6.6) 5.0 and up are recommended, on the Zombiegrrlz rating system I would say Rent it!

Next Door (2010) - Horror Supernatural

Next Door (2010) - Part of Terrorthon 10 at the Somerville Theater in Somerville MA.
Anna(Christina Rondano) is a depressed accountant living and working in NYC. She is down in the dumps not wanting to socialize with her friend Evelyn (Nicole Kruex) and is looking for a change. When in an email she mysteriously wins a house in Massachusetts thing seem to be looking up. She checks out the organization and it seems legitimate so she plans a weekend up at the house to check it out.
We saw from the opening scene that the towns' people in this town has decided they need to have people living in the house for some hidden reason. We get the idea that the house may be haunted or at least some grisly events took place there.
Anna arrives and find handyman Ronald Buckman (Sal Lizard) ready to help her settle in and welcome her. Local snoop Mrs. Rosenburg (Lynn Lowry) stops in with a casserole and pries a bit before being nudged to the door. It does not take long for director Andrew Sawyer to telegraph trouble with an animated conversation among town folk outside the house while upping the creepy music, was that a take off on "The Exorcist" theme?
Unfortunately things slow down from here and sitting through the slow build was a tough watch. It was not that the acting was bad but I wonder about the script. Writer Allison Lahikainen seemed to sacrifice coherence because she feared exposition. Granted it is tough to do when there is basically one protagonist. Anna spent a lot of time being scared from scrapes and bumps in the night and then discovering pictures. There is some building for her as she sets out to find out why the house is so strange but because she has no one to bounce ideas off there is never a clear narrative about why things are happening.
The information we do get comes from the towns people and even there it is their resistence to share information that is frustrating. When Anna starts having a crazy look we know somehow the house is affecting her, through some flashes for the audience we know some grisly thing happened and we see Anna slowly losing it. Thing is we can only guess why. This reviewer was going the evil house route. She invites Evelyn up and there is finally hope to discover a plot. Unfortunately the Things get even stranger as we get to experience Anna's insanity in cut shots of things that could or could not be happening. The final night does not go well for her and even worse for Evelyn and Mrs. Rosenburg.
It seems bad and I am afraid it was but not to worry in the morning Ronald is there explain the entire movie. Well sort of and not very satisfactorily. I won't tell you because damn it if you want to know you should have to suffer through this film yourself.
When thinking about the film what was missing was a clear plot, the idea for one was there but it was poorly relayed through the script. Since it was the townspeople luring people to their deaths the supporting cast could have been written much more menacing than it was. The actors were all competent and would have been able to pull it off. Filmed on what seemed video and truly a low budget picture you really have to give credit for the execution of getting the film made. Because of time, it was really late, I could not stay for the Q & A but really wished that I had.
Rating (3.1) 5.0 and up are recommended, On the Zombiegrrlz scale I would skip it!

Herschell Gordon Lewis:The Godfather of Gore (2010) - Documentary

Part of Terrorthon 10 at the Somerville Theater in Somerville MA
Herschell Gordon Lewis:The Godfather of Gore (2010) - In the late 50's and early 60's Herschell Gordon Lewis was a small time movie maker creating nudist movies in South Miami. There was a lot of censorship in those days so a way around it to show naked people was to do educational films on nudist colonies. Lewis was making a bit of money but not much doing just that.
In 1963 he was looking for a new vehicle to cash in on and with longtime assistant Allison (Bunny) Downe came up with the script for Blood Feast. In it a killer steals body parts from his victims all young women to perform a ritual feast that will bring the Goddess Ishtar back to life. In it was were lots of gruesomely real scenes of mangled bodies, possibly the first gore scenes on film. Shot in four days in South Miami for about twenty thousand dollars it was a surprise success. Included in the movie going experience was a gimmick of handing out vomit bags to the audience which went over well at the time. Went over well does not mean it was liked by critics, although it made a bit of money for Lewis and friends the film was panned by the critics of the time for being crude and unprofessional. There is a story told in the film by a critic who was approached by the manager of a Majestic LA theater and apologized that the film was shown in his theater.
This documentary is a loving look at a small time film maker and how he created a genre of film that would later influence many film makers in the horror genre. In the film we talk to Lewis, and long time collaborators and actors in many of his films.
We take a trip with H.G. Lewis back to St. Cloud FL. the site of his 1964 film 2000 Maniacs and here stories of what it was like to make the film about a small redneck town that wants to get revenge for the outcome of the civil war.
Covering many of his films with style, H.G. Lewis spins tales about a time in movie making long past. Some of the films covered include
Color me Blood Red (1965) - In which an artist uses blood instead of red paint for his art.
A Taste of Blood (1967) - Where a descendant of Dracula becomes a vampire and goes after the family line of his executioners.
Flesh Feast (1970) - A ring of Florida Nazis have possession of Hitler's body and want to bring him back to life. Starring the wonderful Veronica Lake
Many more films were included, directors Frank Henenlotter and Jimmy Maslon show the respect and love they have for Lewis and the appreciation they feel for his contributions to film. There are guest appearances from Joe Bob Briggs and John Waters to add weight to the appreciation of Lewis. By the end of the documentary the view has had an interesting and loving description, a history lesson about a small part of film making that changed what was seen on screen. We also have a picture of a man trying to make a few bucks who had no idea what the impact would be but should be appreciated anyway.
Rating (6.4) 5.0 and up are recommended, On the Zombiegrrlz scale I say Rent it!

Blood Feast (1963) - Horror Killer

Part of Terrorthon 10 at the Somerville Theater in Somerville MA
Blood Feast (1963) - A woman comes home and gets ready for a bath, she turns on her really cool radio, a Zenith Royal 250 to hear reports that women in town have been killed and to stay home after dark. Since she keeps her book of Ancient Weird Egyptian Rituals nearby and the camera lingers on it we know it is important. Suddenly as she relaxes in her bubble bath a man appears and stabs her to death and then after she is dead takes a leg as a trophy. So begins this 1963 gore movie, some would argue started the genre of gore in movies.
This is not a good movie, it is poorly written, acted and lots does not make sense as you watch. An example of this is the two cops that are featured. The Capt. Frank (Scott H. Hall) overly dramatic with every line repeatedly through the film states there are no clues to who the killer is. That's because in this work the police have yet to develop the ability to take fingerprints. The killer makes no effort to wear gloves or avoid smearing blood all over the place, but apparently the police don't know the existence of fingerprinting.
Nor does this movie attempt to hide the killer from the audience. We learn in the first three scenes who the killer, Fuad Ramses (Mal Arnold) is, what his motivation is and what his larger plan is. I won't be spoiling anything here by saying that he worships the Goddess Ishtar and wants to perform the Blood Feast that will bring her back to life. Where our killer runs a catering service and has some kind of mind control abilities he easily convinces Dorothy Freeman (Lyn Bolton) to have such a Feast for her daughter (Connie Mason). It is not a spoiler because 15 minutes into this you are shown everything. So the rest of the film is about the inept cops learning it.
I love that the killer worships a store mannequin dress as the Egyptian Goddess. He is a strange character who overacts and limps badly but somehow is completely silent and can easily surprise the most cautious victim. Needing more body parts the killer heads out to the beach to find Tony and his girl making out. She wants to go home but he wants her to hang and "prove" her love. Fuad dragging his dead leg behind him in the sand, knocks out Tony and kills the girl. For some reason there is a boa constrictor on the beach, when the police arrive they do not have a clue and state that fact. Since they did not tape off the area all the walking around must have erased the trail left by the killer as he dragged his leg behind him. It could have gone something like this.

Capt. Frank: Well guys we are here a bit late again. If we could just find a clue to what direction the killer went.
Officer: Capt Frank there is this clear path here in the sand, looks like someone dragged something from over there, to where the kids were attacked and then off that way with something dripping blood behind it.
Capt.Frank: Good work kid, What's your name? Hey lets fallow that blood trail and see where it goes.

BUT NOOO! Instead they talk to Tony who is awake again and crying like a two year old who had his candy stolen. Then they bring the parents of the latest victim in to ask if they know who did it? You see this scene would not be necessary except that the writer Allison Louise Downe wants to introduce that Det. Pete Thornton (William Kerwin) is connecting the book from the first scene to this murder. Since there are more body parts needed for the feast there are more murders to come. The Captain and Tanielle return to a Miami motel drunk, we only see them from a distance but can tell they are drunk from their bobbing and weaving. Capt does not get to go into Tanielle's room probably saving his life. Ramses drags himself to her room using the railing of the walkway but since there are no finger prints in this world leaves no clues when he kills her and rips out her tongue. I loved that we know she is dead because she crossed her eyes.
Now we get filled in on the feast and it is through a lecture that Thornton goes to with his girlfriend Suzette Fremont (Playboy playmate Connie Mason) the daughter who will have the surprise feast. They are both interested in Egyptian culture and history and besides how will Ramses ever get caught if Det. Pete doesn't have a way to make connections.
There are more murders and on the night of the party the police close in on the killer. When they get to his catering store and find the latest victim they are shock and then figure out that Ramses is the killer and is at Suzette's house right now!
Suzette comes close to having her number punched but Ramses has to flee the cops before the deed is done. Dragging his bad leg behind him he manages to stay ahead of a bunch of cops for a very long time until he can hide in the back of a garbage truck. You can guess his outcome. The gore effect were pretty effective and I had a better feeling about this film after seeing the Herschell Gordon Lewis documentary after this feature, but as a film itself it was really poor.
Rating (3.2) 5.0 and up are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz system I would tell you to Skip It!

Art of the Devil (2004) - Horror (Thailand)

Art of the Devil (2004) - "Khon len khong" - It is a complicated plot played out in different flashes of time. We start in the present and see Nan (Arisa Wills) running through the house in a panic. She as she finds her family in various levels of bloody distress she gets a call on the phone. The voice say its her sister in law that is doing this to get out of the house. Before she can though she is struck unconscious and bound by the killer sister in law. The actress Wills could be the Thai sister of Jessica Alba but this is her only appearance in film so I guess she does not have the acting chops of Alba. Still she is pleasant to look at. The sexy but evil Boom, the sister in law is played by Supakson Chaimongkol who you can find tons of pictures of on the Internet. She seems to be very popular in Thailand. In this pg-13 film though there is not a lot of either of these lovely ladies to look at and the film is not particularly remarkable. After the first scene we have flash backs as to how Boom became part of this family. She was picked up at a bar by the father of a family, not the one in the opening scene but another. This is not entirely clear at first but later you figure it out.

The guy is a bit of a dick head and even though married with two sons a daughter and a wife he picks up this young lady, Boom for a night of sex. No time is wasted to move on to the standard "Are you pregnant scene?" . Boom extorts a million baht from the father but he decides to keep seeing her and then figures since she just wanted money he could let his friend all have a turn on her. Well if that was not enough to piss her off towards revenge I don't know what is.

Then the strange deaths start happening, nails coming out of heads, suicides, we learn that it is the guys who raped Boom. The deaths seem sort of supernatural and when the family starts to die. The scene happens fast at the family house and the whole family is killed. Very hallucinatory and a bit freaky.

Boom figures as the mistress she can claim his estate with his heir. But before she can do that she has to appease the spirits of the family she just killed with black magic by visiting the priest and praying. When she comes out of the temple she sees the spirits of the dead in a passing vehicle and is struck by a car. While she is in the hospital another mistress of the Father comes forward with her three sons and daughter, who is Nan to claim his inheritance. Worse yet Boom loses her baby. Now the only way to get what she thinks is hers is to get into Nan's family through one of the brothers and then kill them all with black magic. Lucky for us the movie wastes no time and bang she is in. This is interspersed with some scenes of a reporter closing in on the black magic angle of the story.

Since this is done in flashback we sort of know where this is going to end up and a good part of the rest of the movie is the setup to the next murder scene. There is the little albino ghost of Boom's dead baby. For some reason she is a little girl and not a baby. There is little tension and I just have to say the Father was a real Ass, two families with children the same ages. Every now and again we flash back to the present with Nan bound and Boom explaining what we are seeing. Blah!

Nan closes in on the truth but of course we know by the beginning of the movie she will be too late to stop anything. We see that Boom gets pregnant again so there is nothing now to stop her from killing everyone. Her brothers are killed and then the house scene makes a reappearance. I will leave the climax for you to see in this barely NOT recommended movie.

Rating (4.8) 5.0 and up are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz system I would say Skip it.

Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977) - Horror

Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (1977) - IMDB reports that George Barry came up with the idea for this film by having a dream which accounts for its surreal feel. More likely it is the reason it can put so many viewers asleep. The story of a bed in a mansion that eats people when they sit on it. There is no real plot other than "How do we get people on the bed?"
There are lovers sneaking away for tryst. Gangster holding up for the night, the main story of three women hiding from one's brother(William Russ). In general this is just a really bizarre story without any kind of interesting plot. Sharon (Rosa Luxemburg) runs away and ends up with her friends Diane(Demene Hall) and Suzan (Julie Ritter) at the mansion and on the bed. To make the film longer inter cut are short stories of the bed killing various other people through the years. In that they explain how a demon inhabits the bed and lives on the blood of the victims.
All of it is narrated by "the Artist"(Dave Marsh) voiced by Patrick Spence-Thomas whose spirit is trapped behind a drawing of the bed. His monotone droning adds little beside a calming voice as you fade into your nap. Blah!
The effects are dreadful with a yellow foam being the indicator that the bed is about to feed and then in the stomach of the bed views as people are eaten.
So why would people go onto some abandon bed? People barely trust motel beds so why would they show up in an abandon house and hop on the fully made bed? Besides that fact that it is a bed. It doesn't really do anything, although its supernatural nature probably is what attracted character. It is such a strange movie and boring I can't imagine there is a following for this flick.
Rating(1.6) 5.0 and up are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz system, Skip It!

Trapped Ashes (2006) - Horror

Trapped Ashes (2006) - A tour guide (Henry Gibson) picks up his motley crew of VIP guests for a tour of the old movie studio. As they drive around on what seems a lame tour, they come to the set house for the movie "Hysteria". The group convinces the guide they should go in and see the house. When inside they split up but each end up in a room with no apparent way out. The guide suggests that the follow the script from the movie and each tell their scariest story. So we have the film premise as each couple or single person shares a scary story. It seemed like a long setup and poorly constructed. Really you are going to tell stories to get out of the room? Okay so even if it is part of the tour isn't it a lot to go through?
Well then the stories start with "The Girl with the Golden Breasts" in which Phoebe (Rachel Veltri) tells a tale of her breast implants. Suddenly this little film is a lot like the show, The Hunger without the overbearing host. She tells her tale of how her alien breast implants need to feed on blood. Horrifying in that it ruins breasts forever, well at least until the image of the carnivorous boobies fades from memory.
In "Stanley's Girlfriend" The Great John Saxon tells of a girlfriend gone wrong. Nathalie (Michele-Barbara Pelletier) tells the story of her father and stepmother and how they died, as well as her relationship with her "Twin". Not the most impressive of the tales. and in Jibuku there is sex and scares and damnation. All of these tales wrapped up with the start and finish in the scary house.
Overall the tales are a bit hard on the women involved. They are alien deformities, cheating wives, murderous children, and life sucking witches, with the men in their lives as hopeful heroes or in most cases hapless victims. The stories are not really sexy enough to be erotica or scary enough to be horror, instead it is a mish-mash of both.
Rating (4.8) 5.0 and up are recommended In the Zombiegrrlz Rating system I would say Maybe rent it.

Exorcism (1979) - Thiller (erotic?)

Exocism (L'éventreur de Notre-Dame) (1979) - Jesus Franco is renown for euro-erotica and here he does not disappoint with a tale of religious murder and erotic performance art. Stepping into the role of Father Mathis Vogel he is a psychopathic killer who prays on sinners in the harshest terms.When the order was put in I was doing a lot of exorcism movies, and added this to the queue by the name "Exorcism" only not knowing anything about the film. It is the story of a lesbian couple who do pseudo black masses, erotic bondage art show pieces while the audience feel each other up.
Mistaken as a real black mass Father Vogel looks to exorcise the demons from those participating. Working his way from local participating prostitute to main or secondary characters he kills several lovely cast members, Lina Romay, Catherine Lafferiere, Nadine Pascal and Monica Swinn are all subject to his demented religious fanaticism. When the inept police finally catch up to him there is quite a body count.
There is a strange mix of religious dogma and erotic lifestyles in this with Vogel often needing the female victims nude before saving their souls by taking their lives. He is disturbed and is played well by Franco. Being a sleaze-fest we see lesbian love scenes, bondage erotic performance art, a group orgy which is a bunch of hairy people rubbing each others legs.
The treatment of women by the killer is degrading and the women barely resist. Men are unable to stop him with the police a full couple steps behind the killer. It was amazing how many times the killer just walks into a house without being seen. As a thriller it does not really work since there does not seem to be a sense that the police are ever closing in on the killer. Nor does the killer ever worry about being caught, lost in his own delusional world where he is turned on and repelled by sexuality.
Rating (4.3) 5 + are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would say Skip It!

Dark Harvest (2004) - Horror Monster

Dark Harvest (2004) - Its the Great Depression and every one's crops have failed because of the drought. Everyone that is but Elijah's (Paul Bugelski), somehow he has a green and robust corn crop. In fact it is so strange that the local sheriff comes out to ask him about it. He lets Elijah know that people are talking, wondering what is making his crops grow while theirs wilt. Elijah is not forthcoming but through the scenes we see that the secret is blood and magic. Elijah is bleeding people as scarecrows to make his garden grow. Cut to modern times...
Sean (Don Digiulio) inherits the same farm from parents he did not even know he had. He was adopted as a small child and had no idea who his family was. He is resistant but decides to take a trip to the farm with a group of his friends. The lawyer tells him it has not been lived in for decades and has 25 acres to it. He at least could sell the place if it has any value. So the kids arrive at a farm that looks like it is in the exact condition as we saw it in the 1930's scenes minus the color filter on the camera. Amazingly even though decades have gone by unattended the fields are full of corn, must be perennial. It doesn't matter though because none of the actor are good enough to notice. Nor do they know how to act, the stale forced out dialog is a combination of either quick memorization, or thinking about hurting the writers while saying the lines but nothing is remotely believable.
The veil thin characters squabble barely differentiating themselves from the others and nothing much happens as they look around the farm. When Sean heads into the country store for ice, he gets to have a long conversation with a ghost. She tell him and us the plot, no need showing then is there? He as the descendant of the murderous farmer will be visited by three ghost... no wait wrong story. The dead want retribution and he is the one they will try to take it from. The spirits of the past will inhabit the scarecrows and come for him. Since he has friends and this is a slasher you can guess the outcome for them. So through the night there is lots of running in corn, getting stabbed and making the ever so popular decision to split up. Sean watches his friend dwindle after stupid badly acted decision after badly acted out decision. When finally he and a friend survive the night there is the lamest ending line ever! Thank You writer and director Paul Moore
The effects consist of scarecrow masked and a couple times we get to see little glow in the dark eyes, some fake blood and entrails and a horrible CGI explosion. This film was awful, and I am one who believes there is value in movies no matter how poorly done. People did sweat over this even though the end product is poor and they should at least get credit for the effort.
Rating (0.8) 5.0 and above are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz rating system RUN AWAY FROM IT!

Blood Moon (2001) - Horror Monster

Blood Moon (2001) - Also listed as "Wolf Girl" this 2001 made for TV movie was actually not bad. The story follows several people, the main one is Tara the Wolf Girl (Victoria Sanchez), who is part of a traveling freak show run by the incomparable Tim Curry. She is not particularly happy with her lot in life having the disease hypertrichosis which makes hair grow all over you. When she meets Ryan (Dov Tiefenbach) whose Mother (Lesley Ann Warren) does genetics experiments in her basement to remove hair for cosmetics companies. What luck, Ryan likes the wolf girl and she is looking for a way to be a normal girl. So the two set about shooting her up with an untested serum that shows promise in mice.
Mixed in with this story line are the financial troubles of the traveling show. Tim Curry as Harley Dune is excellent at the subtle acting necessary to get the audience to feel for the troupes troubles. Also in the story mix are a group of four troubled teenagers, locals who pick on Ryan and are absolutely cruel to Tara. The leader Beau (Shawn Ashmore) does a commendable job with the role of a young man fighting his shortcomings through an angry response to anyone he thinks he can best. His sidekick Krystal (Shelby Fenner) who is more competent an an instigator keeps him in check but directs his rage outward.
Most of the story though is about the question of wanting to fit in versus accepting who you are. Ryan is the loser who is okay with himself. Tara is the Pinocchio in a sense wanting to not be the freak for just a while. Beau feeling so inadequate with himself hunts for a way to feel competent. So how far will Tara go? When the shots she is taking start effecting her by making her more animalistic in behavior while she actually loses the hair that has plagued her, she seems to choose the looks instead of her own personality.
The climax is a bit odd in this one and since it will be recommended by this writer (barely) I will not say too much. Let me say though that the turn is strange even though the story is compelling enough to watch through and the acting and production values are good. There are some strange real freaks in the carnival and a few musical numbers in the show featuring little people and a half man half woman Grace Jones. This is a rental for sure if you have Netflix but I would not go out and buy it.
Rating (5.0) 5.0 are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz rating system I would say rent it!

Dark Forces (1980) - Horror Supernatural

Dark Forces (1980) - Also called "Harlequin" a mysterious and incomprehensible man, Gregory Wolfe (Robert Powell) enters the life Australian Senator Nick Rast (David Hemmings) and is wife (Carman Duncan) and sick son (Mark Spain). The magical Wolfe seems to cure the leukemia that son Alex has been suffering. He becomes involved with the Mrs. Sandra Rast and creates a big stir in the political circles that the Senator runs in.

Nick Rast is being groomed for an appointment when the lieutenant Governor vanishes at sea. The group that is grooming him are very wary of the stranger coming into the Rast household and work to find out about him. Doc Wheelan (Broderick Crawford) will not have the appearance of this new comer interfere with his groups plan.

Wolfe has a very positive effect on the family but ultimately is too much in the way. He tries to get the Senator to see that he is being manipulated but it is too late. Not even the magic the man seems to have can in the end save him.

The movie came about as a modern telling of the Rasputin story. The disappearance was based on a real event in Australia, Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared off the coast after coming out against the Vietnam war in the 1970s. The film spend no time developing the Wolfe character he is portrayed as completely mysterious. Not working perfectly it is really a strange piece of movie making. The music is melodramatic and overly loud. The Cinematography was wonderful and the out of door scene nicely shot.

Rating (3.7) 5.0 and up are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz rating system I say Skip It!

Machete (2010) - Action

Machete (2010) - A former Mexican Federale left for dead after being betrayed by his own boss, Machete (Danny Trejo) comes illegally into the United States. He is picked up a a day labor stop by Booth (Jeff Fahey) the powerful aide to Senator McLaughlin (Robert De Niro). Booth wants him to kill the violently anti-immigrant McLaughlin, well that is at least what he tells him. Really it is an elaborate set up to blame an immigrant for a shooting and get the senator reelected. The stellar cast includes Luz (Michelle Rodriguez), as the head of an underground immigrant movement called the network. Torrez (Steven Seagal) as the arch enemy of Machete and former boss in Mexico who now leads a major drug cartel. Jessica Alba as a young immigration officer rounding up illegals. Cheech Marin as Padre the brother and priest of Machete. Lt. Stillman (Don Johnson) as the leader of a vigilante group who hunt and kill immigrants as they attempt to sneak across the border. There is also an amusing turn by Lindsay Lohan as Booth's daughter April.

Machete for the most part is on the run in this movie, there is lots of killing and funny dialog with the plot winding its way to a giant conclusion, a fight between the network and the vigilante group. Machete also gets a showdown with Torrez which is a great finish. Writer Director Robert Rodriguez has done a great job bringing forth many of the issues of illegal immigration and how the US on one hand wants the labor while also vilifying the participants. There have been complaints in reviews of this film saying it is heavy handed in its messages. This writer does not see it that way. What Rodriguez did was create a story that includes the issues and also give a multifaceted reading of the issues. The serious scapegoating of illegal immigrants in our society while ignoring the American who hire them and then drive down working Americans wages on top of it is not discussed her, what we see is how easy it is for American small businessmen to get cheap labor.

The film also has many wonderful turns and twists that make the humor and action an enjoyable trip. If you are looking for a fun and action filled movie this is the winner of the summer.

Rating (8.3) 5.0 and above are recommended, In the Zombiegrrlz rating system Go See it and then Buy it!

The Straun House (2005) - Horror

The Straun House (2005) - Also called Dr. rage this piece of pulp is a hard watch. Michael Dare, falsely accused of rage problems takes a visit to the Straun Foundation to be part of a medical experiment instead of jail time. What appears to be an anger management program turns out to be so much more. The doctors Timothy Straun (Andrew Divoff) and Susan Verger (Denise Duff) are administering a drug that enduces rage in the recipient and then somehow they are collecting sample from their sweat. It makes really no sense, and that and a Renfield type character named Moe Mobius (John Kassir) is running around the streets giving the drug to homeless guys. Locked in the cellar is a child of Straun's whose secret we learn in the climax. Filling out the cast is Molly the incomparable Karen Black who is a lawyer funnelling men like Michael to the program.

The drug is very addictive and seems to have the opposite effect than one would think. Then we learn that Straun is taking the drug himself and very excited to live through the rage it creates. He sits in a straight jacket while Mobius administers the drug, and watches through spy cams his patient Michael. Slowly we learn that Straun thinks he can move the evolution of man forward by using the drug and releasing the hidden rage in all of us. This unfortunately is not the complete storyline. There is a deep dark family secret that Straun is hiding and in the climax we find out what it is.

This movie is really very incomprehensible with just horrible dialog and a ridiculous plot. There are some cool low budget special effects but in the end this was not the writers idea of a worthy movie.

Rating (1.5) 5.0 and above are recommended On the Zombiegrrlz rating system I would give it,a SKIP IT!

Enter the Devil (1974) - Horror exorcism

Enter the Devil (1974) - If there is one thing that can be said for Italian movie making in the 1970's when an idea got popular they jumped both feet into the fray. While "The Exorcist" was making money in the States, there were a string of exorcism movies put out in Italy. This entry into it is a decent to poor example. The earlier reviewed "The Antichrist" is a better example of these films. In this particular film a religious artifact is brought to the place Danila (Stella Carnacina) works restoring art, or being a student, it is not clear with the poor dubbing. The artifact is possessed and soon we have hallucinatory scenes where young Danila starts having sexual encounters with the devil. Not all at once but each building and more overt. Tied into this is Danila seeing her Mother, Luisa having violent sex with a lover, being struck with the thorny stems of roses, all in a sexual nude way. Suggesting that Danila is somehow disturbed and maybe the possession story is really about the psychological effects of what she saw. Certainly she notice her parents are not really loving with each other. When her sexualized episodes become more disturbing she thrashes about coming on to her father who is disgusted. Then an episode with Stigmata that comes with a hallucination of being nailed to a cross by the devil. In the end the devil has sex with her and we can say from that point she seems possessed. Stella Carnacina is a stunningly beautiful woman but the makeup people do a great job at uglying her up for the possession scenes.
The family consults doctors and psychiatrists before taking her to a remote Italian village for an exorcism. She escapes her room and runs about the village for a good long time before being found by the search party.
When the first exorcism attempt comes it is way too short and anticlimactic. Some wind to keep the priest away. She attacks him as he prays over him, the devil talks to Danila saying she should seduce the priest. She rubs against him now her beautiful looking sexy self instead of the dark eyed possessed girl. He pushes her away and leaves. "Abomination." he yells at her laughter.
No another heavy handed scene where the priest conduct self flagellation bringing the viewer back to the idea of pain and sex because this is just after Danila tried to seduce him. So he must have felt something and was now punishing himself. He prays for strength.
Danila in her room has a conversation with the devil who encourages her to go after the priest and beat him. He thinks that this victory would be grand. Amazingly Danila's room is not locked and she walks out into the courtyard as the priest comes to finish the job. He prays at her and she gets crazy, grabbing a chain and again with the whipping hits him repeatedly. This does not stop our priest from praying the demon out of her though. As he dies she vomits out the demon who was surprisingly green and slimy goo. Then the movie just ends there.
Such an abrupt final scene and really why all the whipping? What was direct Mario Gariazzo thinking. No story arcs for anyone , the family is not made stronger the message is really that poor Danila had been susceptible because of her mental state and only a dying priest could save her. This movie had so much promise with the early scenes of the statue coming to life, the devil being well, the devil and then it just ends so quickly when there could have been an epic show down.\
Rating (4.0) 5.0 and above are recommended Zombiegrrlz rating system I would say Skip It!

Blood Car (2007) - Horror Satire

Blood Car (2007) - The story of Blood Car is that in the near future Gas prices are over $40 a gallon so nobody drives. Archie Andrews (Mike Brune) works hard trying to come up with an alternative engine that be with a fuel made from wheat grass. Some of the character satire is that he is a vegan who tries to go through life not harming anyone. Archie is blind to the love of the wheat grass selling Lorraine (Anna Chlumsky) as he presses his single minded purpose seeking a solution to the energy crisis. When he accidentally cuts himself while working on his engine he discovers the solution fuel. Now a vegan in crisis can drain some of his own blood for fuel, but is this really a long term solution. In a field is the booth where he buys his wheat grass, across from it is the Meat shed, where Denise (Katie Rowlett) sells "Meat". She sees Archie driving his blood fueled car and suddenly he is very attractive to her. She comes on to him for a date to the drive in, humorous with people all sitting on blanket but no cars. His desire to have sex out weighs his vegan, harm nothing principles and soon he is killing people to feed the car the blood it needs to keep seeing Denise. Also there are government agents watching him, and their desire for his new car. This won't matter to the viewer though because this low budget satire is pretty poor and at this point in the film attention to the plot starts to fade. Will Archie choose the nerdy but pretty Lorraine over the shallow and slutty Denise? Will the Agents steal his invention? Will Archie be able to live with himself after leaving his principles behind? Good luck to those brave enough to go after this one.
Rating (1.9) 5.0 and up are recommended, On the Zombiegrrlz rating system I would Skip It!

Taste of Flesh, Taste of Fear (????) - Horror

Taste of Flesh, Taste of Fear (????) - Laura (Barbara Doll) and Eve , I think the same actress or possibly her twin sister with a black dye job. They are driving in the middle of nowhere, there is a stereotype about women not being able to read a map that the reviewer is not sure is needed. When a dark figure appears in road causes them to crash their car, they pass out as the mysterious and beautiful caped figure comes to the car and the title comes up.

Laura wakes and can not find Eve, her host then invites Laura to dinner. The table is dressed and the food looks delicious. The dark hostess, Lady Mortidella (Posh Spice), an Italian countess I guess, joins her and explains rescuing then from the car crash.

She explains that she saved Laura and when she returned for Eve, she and the car were gone. With no phone the panic stricken Laura, feels faint, was it the turkey she ate? Lady Mortidella helps her to her bed, there is a sexual tension here and the substantial cleavage of the actress is on full display.

Cared for by the Lady, gently caresses there is definate a lesbian love scene coming here. Not now though. Waking Laura sees the Lady sail across the room but before she is fully awake she is bitten by the vampire Lady Mortidella. Laura is very casual with the bie marks on her neck.

When she finds Eve's headband she searches the cellars for her and finds in a candlelit room the Vampire Mortidella sleeping. The vampire goes for Laura to make her, her lesbian lover for all time. Laura runs and in the garden finds a branch to defend herself, when trapped she swings the sharp stick stabbing the Vampire and it bursts to dust.

Laura traumatized wanders the garden and comes across Eve. Now they will be together forever.

What can I say about this film? Director Stacie Ponder does a great job telling a story of love and desire while adding a somewhat standard story centered on Vampires. The actresses are solid although they appeared to be receivers of substantial plastic...surgery. The music is good and creates a very creepy mood. There are a couple of flubbs where things come into the screen that should not be there but considering the limited budget this one had I think it can be overlooked.

Rating (7.3) 5.0 and above are recommended Zombiegrrlz rating system = Buy It Here!

Dr. Blood's Coffin (1961) - Horror

Dr. Blood's Coffin (1961) - Peter Blood ( Kieron Moore) was a stellar student at medical school, so much so that he got a five year reseach internship in Vienna. When he pushes the boundaries of medicine too far he is kicked off his research grant and is forced to return home. Early in the movie we are not allowed to see the good doctor, the surprise is being saved for later, Instead we see a small English village where medical supplies and residents are disappearing. Again we see a mysterious lower body and a pair of hands but not the good doctor. So at this point we don't know he lives here and is the son of the local doctor. What I thought was going to be a big surprise was discarded when Peter drives into town like he has not been there for a month. We get to see him flirt with nurse Linda Parker (Hazel Court) and see his father.

It is transparent to the viewer that Peters hands are the same hands as the guy kidnapping people and taking them into the tin mines. So as the town constable talks about searching the mines Peter starts stepping in to protect his illegal experiments. We do not know what those experiments are but we know he is killing people from the village to try to complete them. He first kidnaps the guide for the minds the night before the search, then he takes his place and leads the cop away from his secret rooms in the mind. Unfortunately for Peter things keep going wrong and he has to compound his lies and stack up bodies to stay ahead of the trouble he is on. He is a driven man and as the plot tightens the noose around him we learn the big secret experiments.

With this is also a love story between Peter and beautiful Linda, a widow whose husband died a few months earlier. Peter has to agree to do autopsies on the people he has killed with his poison or at least paralysing them. Then when he is discovered by old friend and undertaker Tregaye (Fred Johnson) mostly because he never locks any doors. In fact the body count would have been significantly lower if he could just stop people from walking in. He was so driven to complete the big secret experiments though and that would be such a hassle. His father after returning from having a syrindge with the poison analyzed at a lab in a different city finds Peter's autopsy reports a bit odd. What else was odd was a comment in the pub where Peter and his father are having a beer and talking. Linda comes over and they ask her if she will join them, in a beer. She says no thank you and then mentions the calories. Peter says something about women worrying too much about their weight. It was out of the blue and had nothing to do with the movie.

Peter is caught again in his experiments this time when Linda walks in. they have an argument about the big secret and it is revealed that we want to create life in a corpse, by transplanting a heart from a living person. REALLY? That is the big secret, you want to reanimate a body while killing a living person. Naturally Linda thinks this is wrong and gets into a religion vs science argument. She takes a desidedly anti science stance and he being the crazy doctor makes science lose for sure. He is a driven man though and takes his latest victim to the mines and completes his experiment by reanimating Linda's dead husband. then he drags her down there and shows her the reanimated rotting corpse of her husband. The zombie creature attacks and Peter and it fight while Linda escapes. They knock over some chemicals and both choke to death. In all Peter killed like 6 people to complete this experiment, but he rationalized it saying they were no bodies and not worth a second thought. WOW! Director Sidney J. Furie early in a career that continues to this day made some odd choices with angle and close up. This one made no sense, written by Nathan Juran and really besides the scenic views of the English coast was a real waste of time. The picture was old and grainy and the music by Buxton Orr was overly dramatic
Rating (2.1) 5.0 and up are recommended Zombiegrrlz rating Skip It!

Isolation (2005) - Horror

Isolation (2005) - On a small desolate and isolated milk farm Dan (John Lynch) slowly loses distance to the banks who will foreclose on his family farm. In order to make payments he has leased out a couple of his cows for genetics experimentation by John (Marcel Lures). Also working with John is Orla (Essie Davis) a local vet who has a history with Dan. Finally the other two main characters are Jaime (Sean Harris) and Mary (Ruth Negga) a couple on the run from Mary's family who do not like her being with Jaime.

The film starts with Orla visiting to check on the health of the genetically modified cows. The cows are pregnant and one is near due. Orla examines the baby cow reaching in to make sure it is properly positioned in mommy cow. The scene is gross and the sound effects got the desired reaction in this viewer. In general the film does a great job at getting a visceral reaction with its grossness. The landscape is muddy and rainy, the interactions with the experiments are bloody and fluid filled with lots of squishy sounds. The basic approach is common a small group of people isolated on this farm will have to deal with a genetic experiment gone wrong.
Dialog works to establish Dan's character as a man with his back against the wall. He needs money to save the family farm and John is the solution that does not sit well with him. He has some kind of history with Orla, they are both locals and neither is particularly happy having to take the genetics labs experimental work. It is clear that Dan has feeling for Orla but that something has happened that has kept them apart. Dan interacts with Mary and Jaime basically letting them know they are not welcomed to park there camper near the farm. They have their own story but it is really under developed by write and director Billy O'Brien. Mary's family will kill Jaime if they are caught, apparently she ran away with him. So they need to stay off the main roads for a couple days and the isolated farm is ideal. When Jaime agrees to help John to deliver the first experimental calf in the middle of the night he is extended the courtesy of staying from then on. The calf scene is amazing with it stuck in the birth canal and the two men using a hand wench to try to get it to come out.
The meat of the story is that the experiments John is doing are designed to increase the speed at which cows can reproduce, but things go horribly wrong. We see this in various ways, Orla is bit by the fetus while doing her initial examination. After a birth Dan and Orla decide things are not good genetically and destroy the calf and the mother cow. When they examine the infant they find it is pregnant and the littler mutant baby things are going to grow really fast. She destroys all but one that got away which leads to the monster movie part of the story. Where we have to see which of our candidates will be the survivor of this story. Through the hard line character John we learn that the mutants infect those they bite. If the infect animal or person then has children further mutation could happen. We also learn that the squiggly monster because it was removed from the womb of the infant calf prematurely is looking for a warm blooded creature to incubate in and everyone knows it must be stopped. So not to spoil the story let me say that the ending was not totally unpredictable but that the writer does a decent job on a small budget creating a scary and well defined monster flick. As the number of character are cut the idea of how to find and kill the creature comes into play. The climax is what you would expect in a monster movie, in this case well done. There are lots of gross out scenes that are not too over the top. The acting is contained and solid and the plot is reasonable. The cinematography is bleached, and darker in palette but it is a positive to add to the gloomy landscape.
Rating(6.5) 5.0 and above are recommended Zombiegrrlz Rating Rent it!

Being There (1979) - Comedy Satire

Being There (1979) - Peter Sellers was nominated for an academy award for his portrayal of Chance (Chauncey Gardiner) a simpleton gardener who has lived inside the walls of his rich mans home all his life. When the old man dies he is sent out into the world armed only with his knowledge of it gleaned from watching television. As fate would have it Chance is struck by a car of a wealthy woman Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine) and brought back to her mansion to be cared for. Her husband Ben Rand (Melvyn Douglas) a dying super influential businessman and advisor to the President (Jack Warden). His doctor Dr. Robert Allenby (Richard Dysart) cares for Chance. Calling him Chauncey Gardiner and really misunderstanding every simple thing his says the wealthy of Washington are taken by him. He is plain and honest and his simple speech patterns and gestures taken from television commercial seem sincere and trustworthy. The satire is about how we as beings and in this case powerful wealthy people see only what they want to see. Each child's utterance by Chauncey is given depth and meaning in the minds of the elite. So much so that the president uses what he thinks is a deep metaphor on the economy in a major speech. Citing Chauncey Gardiner as the source gets lots of people interested in this seemingly wise man and with celebrity come scrutiny. Still having lived a sheltered life he really had no past and the best efforts of the CIA and FBI could turn little up on the man. This only made him more interesting to Washington.

At the same time grieving Eve find personal comfort in Chauncey and soon is falling in love with him. Only the doctor ever finds out who Chauncey id Chance the gardener and although they don't show it, I don't think he ever tells anyone. When Ben dies the final scene is interesting. Chance wanders the estate grounds having lost interest in the funeral. He fixes a small pine sapling near a pond and then walks out onto the top of the pond water, after several feet he stops and using his umbrella plunges it deep into the water before removing it and continuing to walk on the water. Superimposed in the background is "Life is a state of mind." Although not laugh out loud there is really wonderful enjoyment in this movie. Its character and performances are wonderful.

Rating (7.5) 5.0 and above are recommended, Zombiegrrlz rating, Rent it!

The Wasp Woman (1959) - Horror

The Wasp Woman (1959) - Written and directed by the great Roger Corman this is the story of... wait its called "The Wasp Woman" what else do you need to know? Well how she got to be the Wasp Woman, so lets start with the research of Dr. Eric Zinthrop (Michael Marks). Fired from his position doing research for a honey company because instead of getting the valuable royal jelly from the queen bees he was researching the jelly of the more potent queen wasp. There is this hilarious seen where the company man after being disappointed that Zinthrop has not gotten more royal jelly for the company watches as the doc shows him he can research aging with the wasp material. Instead of thinking he can make money off this idea he immediately fires Zinthrop. Just wonderful.

So the good doctor heads to NYC and is soon on the doorstep of failing cosmetics tycoon Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot). Since she has aged out of being the face of her company her empire has started its decline. If only there was a way to recapture her youth. Lucky for her right after the meeting where we learn this she meets with good doctor Zinthrop and immediately start secretly funding his research into wasp royal jelly. This after he shows her the an experiment where when trying to show a Guinea pig getting younger the film maker instead of replacing the original with a younger one replaces it in the next shot with a lab rat. LOL!!! Naturally secret lab work turns on the suspicion radar of several employees including Arthur Cooper (William Roerick), Bill Lane (Anthony Eisley) and her secretary Mary Dennison (Barboura Morris).

Little do the employees no that Janice has insisted on being the first human subject for testing the new serum. The do find out though when she starts appearing at the office looking so much younger. They still do not have all the answers to how it is happening and there are many dinner conversations about how to get information. Unknown to doc Zinthrop Janice wanting quicker results starts taking the shots herself at ever increasing doses. Just when he notices that the cat he treated until it reversed aged into a kitten had reverted to adult, and was vicious to boot, he gets hit by a car. Janice not knowing what happened to hims sends out investigators in a boring montage of guys driving around the city. She ends up taking so much serum that she turns into a woman with a wasp head and hands and starts killing the employees as they sneak about trying to find answers.

Even after finding Zinthrop he has a bad memory from the car hitting him and as we build to the climax, Marry and Bill are in danger from wasp Janice and it is the doctor that helps save them. This movie could be a warning to those with deep internal drives to be wary of the consequences. The Doctor was driven to develop the serum. Janice was driven to be young again and save her company. Arthur Cooper was driven to find out what was going on. Really bad things happened to all of them . More likely it is just a 50s monster flick that is tied together with these forces. Either way this is fun and funny but not terribly good.

Rating (5.1) 5.0 and above are recommended, Zombiegrrlz rating Rent it! (If you can see it for free even better.)

The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow (2009) - Horror

The Messengers 2: The Scarecrow (2009) - The original "The Messengers" was a flawed film with a fairly decent premise that children are more inclined to see ghosts than adults. In that story the Solomon family through this device find out what happen to the former owners of the farm. Although not a great film it did create an atmosphere and focused the story on the teen and child's story that then included the family. In the NON sequel the Messengers 2 the entire premise of the first movie has been dismissed. The house is the same but that is the extent of the similarities.
It is a story focused on farmer John Rollins (Norman Reedus), who has a family makeup which mirrors the original a teen daughter(Claire Holt) and a younger son (Laurence Belcher) and a pretty wife Mary (Heather Stephens). This is where the similarities end, the kids are barely used in the script by Todd Farmer. The wife is the secondary focus but only as a way of driving the character journey John goes on. He is a down on his luck corn farmer who has a bad crop, lots of bills and a crow problem. He finds behind a hidden door in the barn a scarecrow and when he puts it up his luck changes.
Of course these things a a bit monkey paw-ish, the real estate guy from the bank who wants to foreclose on his farm, and the friend of his wife who wants to take her from the troubled marriage are taken out of the picture for him. Good luck for John but bad because they are both killed after seeing him. The stress is also getting to John and there are several scenes where he runs out into the cornfield and hears childrens voices. Is he losing his mind? Is the scarecrow taking care of his problems. Will director Martin Barnewitz stop swing the camera around him in the corn field?
Unfortunately the writing by Todd Farmer , who SO obviously has never been a farmer, gives too much away. Instead of letting John's story unfold and the audience try to figure out what the hell is going on, insanity or supernatural we get a character to fill in the blanks. Jude Weatherby (Richard Riehle) and his lovely naked wife Miranda (Darcy Fowers) are there to basically tell us exactly how everything works with the scarecrow so no worries about having to do any thinking.
The climax where a cross scarecrow comes after the family is so not worth the time put in to get to that point. Oh and it has absolutely nothing to do with that last movie. Nothing Nada. WTF! Stop, breath....
The story as a stand alone was not well executed as every time something is seen it is immediately used in the next scene and resolved, only the tractor idea made it to the climax. This could have been a psychological thriller about how stress drove one man to insanity but instead we get an evil scarecrow.
Rating (3.2) 5.0 and above is recommended Zombiegrrlz rating Skip It!

The Car (1977) - Horror

The Car (1977) - From the opening scene where two bicyclists are run off the road and over by the black car of the title; the question of "why?" is the elephant in the room. Is it a wealthy thrill seeker reaping death on the lower classes from his customized Lincoln? Is it the ghost of native Americans marginalized in the desert town? Is it some kind of voodoo wrought by a victim of domestic abuse?
The police try to find the car and stop it, but the bodies start to pile up. Wade Parent (James Brolin) tries to protect the town but has few answers, isolated road blocks do not accomplish anything except give the car victims alone in the desert. On a side note why do the cop cars blow up when their roofs are damaged?
When the car comes after the local marching band they hide in the local cemetery, and Parents girlfriend Lauren (Kathleen Lloyd) yells at it. It does not enter the cemetery though. Could this mean it is some kind of supernatural force. Why is it here terrorizing the town? Unfortunately for Lauren she returns to her house and it (the car) flies through her bay window to get her. Wade is pissed off and when he finally gets the chance to confront this black behemoth he does it on his motorcycle. In the standoff he see the car is inviting him with an open door, but when he goes to look in and see the driver the door whacks him in the head and out cold. Why did the car leave him alive? Could it be that it likes him and wants him as its owner?
The final showdown is a big chase scene with Parent being chased by the car towards a canyon where his men are setting up explosive. The explosion is exceptional, possibly the best part of the film. Director Elliot Silverstein never answers any of the proposed questions about the origin or motivation of the car. Never lets us know if it is indeed supernatural. Never does anything that could make this film satisfying. The script written by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack is a mess with no subtext other than melodramatic interpersonal rivalry and small town politics.
So much more could have been explored in this scenario but instead we get the killer car for no reason. The cops trying to stop it for obvious reasons and that's it. As a PG movie it does not even give horror fans the prerequisite gore in its kills.
Rating (2.0)Rating of 5.0 and up are recommended Zombiegrrlz rating Skip It!