Back to the Spookyland Alcove...| It's nice to get Troma on the list, and we have waited several years for this release. Part horror, part exploitation, part potty-humor, and part musical, this film is a worthy successor in the tradition of The Toxic Avenger. Even Troma's shameless Lloyd Kaufman has a major role. |
| I will admit right off the bat that this film is a smoking turd, vaguely similar in gore style to Violent Sh*t II, Mother Hold My Hand, but without the depth or plot or budget. This is more like a couple of teenagers who like filming cheap gore effects. It seems to start out seriously, but eventually realizes how stupid it is, after which it starts enjoying itself. It's sole saving grace (aside from being oddly 'banned in Germany for extreme content' - assuming the Germans have any standards for that) is that it regards itself as the first party gore film, which kind of makes it work. If you have it running in the background for grins, it kind of works. |
| One of my personal favorites, we are introduced to the lovable character 'Big Fat Crazy Ethel.' This sparse mid-1970's piece is fairly cheesy for a horror film, but a naturalistic, arthouse sort of feel really makes it work. Urban cannibalism galore, and it's hard not to love someone named 'Big Fat Crazy Ethel.' In fact, ten years later, Priscilla Alden returned as Ethel Janowski in the landmark sequel 'Crazy Fat Ethel II.' |
| This is probably one of those ideas that sounded great on paper - reconstruct dead girlfriend from pieces of prostitutes. Wow. It really does sound good on paper. If you add to that the phrase "Exploding Hooker Party" you have the stuff of legends. Honestly, this isn't half as bad as it sounds. |
| An urban tale about a young girl at a creepy, run-down hotel. Despite a tight budget, it is filmed quite stylishly, and has some nice imagery involving inflatable dolls and hypodermic needles. Cute 'trick' ending, too. Watch for Stanley Livingston of 'My Three Sons' as the girl's would-be boyfriend. Directed by Paul Bartel, the co-star of 'Eating Raoul' (also a classic). This is not the movie about Howard Stern. |
| Also seen as 'Lady Dracula' or 'Lemora, the Lady Dracula,' this is an atmospheric tale about a ganster's daughter travelling to a bayou vampire mansion. Slow moving, but some pretty spooky stuff. including kid-vampires. Also includes a nice creepy folk song that I have seen in print elsewhere. I continue to see this for sale on DVD at horror movie conventions. |