Our movie this time should have been reviewed a long time ago because it is such a cool flick. I'd been meaning to do it but it seems I just never got around to it, or something else came up that I reviewed instead. But with it's upcoming release onto DVD this October, I though it was about time I hit it. This time our movie is:
THE PIT
This movie is relatively little known, but if you've seen it, it's likely left an indelible mark on your soul. I've often seen people trying to recollect the title of it in newsgroup posts, describing parts of it that have scared their memories for life.
That is because this movie has EVERYTHING, from monsters to ghosts, and from sweet revenge to perversion. And it's as funny as it is scary. It's the story of a pit, a pit filled with flesh-eating monsters. But more than that, it is the story of a boy named Jaime, an outcast boy with more than his share of mental quirks.
This boy, played by legendary boy actor Sammy Synders, is ostracized by his community; apparently stemming from an incident involving him swinging naked, except for a cape, in the trees, and he has only one friend, his Teddy Bear. Now this bear is no Teddy Ruxpin, this bear moves and talks and has glowing eyes, and is just as twisted as our hero Jaime. And Jamie is pretty twisted. In fact, one might call him downright perverted; probably because his mom washed him too much.
The action begins when Jaime's parents go away leaving him with a hottie of a babysitter/house keeper who, of course, Jamie gets the perverted hots for. At the same time, Jamie finds a pit in the woods full of creatures he calls Trollalogs. These creatures are hairy humaniods with glowing eyes and incidentally played a part in not a few of my nightmares. Jaime proceeds to creep out the babysitter with his perverted lust and eliminate his love rivals and enemies alike in the pit of creatures.
....
This movie has all the ham and cheese of your typical B-movie video release of the early '80s, but is actually genuinely creep and disturbing in parts. Sammy Synders gives a stellar performance (at least I'm hoping he was performing and isn't as creepy in real life) as the murderous Jaime. Check out THIS CLIP of Jaime feeding an old lady who ratted on him for something to the Trollalogs (curtousy of badmovies.org). Be sure and check out The Sammy Snyders Fan Club for more info and stuff on this great child actor!
This movie is absolutely great, no matter which way you look at it, creep-fest or so-bad-its-good funfest. And in fact, it only gets better with beer. And some even more good news! Long has this flick been out of print, but now, this October, just in time for Halloween, it is being released on DVD!!!!
So click the poster below and pre-order a copy now:
