Video Nasty - Devil Hunter

Devil Hunter

1980

Eurocine / J E Films (Julian Esteban Films) / Lisa Film

CineHollywood / Manhattan Video / Wizard Video / Severin Films

3.25 / 10

This has to be one of the most boring and laborious films I've ever seen.  However, with the premise of the story, this film should have been a kickass action horror film.  A model is kidnapped while on a shoot by a gang of criminals who intend to ransom her off.  They, unfortunately, didn't count on the cannibals and their demon God.  In comes Peter Western a type of bounty hunter hired to rescue the model.

The possibilities for this story are huge and as such, I believe this would make a good remake.  Having said that, the original misses on all the exciting possibilities and just relies on the story concept.  This mistake and the ensuing horrendous film lies squarely on the shoulders of the writer and director Jesus Franco and writer Julian Esteban.  Everything is so lacklustre and lackadaisically constructed even the special effects - the demon God is just a tall man with the worst "bug-out" eyes ever, he's more comical than ominous.

The bad thing is that the acting isn't too bad, it's the slow pace and the below standard direction which makes them come off badly.

Except for the story, there's not much that saves this film.  Because of this, I would only recommend to Die Hard cannibal fans, though I would like to stress, make sure you're wide away and you have a large cup of coffee close by as you may need the caffeine buzz to get through this boring snoozefest.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Devil Hunter

Video Nasty - Zombie Creeping Flesh

Zombie Creeping Flesh

(1980)

AKA - Virus

AKA - Hell Of The Living Dead

Beatrice Film / Films Dara : Merlin Video / Vestron Video / Creature Features Video / Video Instant Picture Company.

4 / 5

This is a terrible film that had the opportunity to have been considerably better.  It has an admirable start with Goblin's electronic music mixed in with story narrative, this gives it a modern feel.  As the movie begins we are at a chemical plant that is not as secure as they thought.  A rat is found in one of the rooms, though it's not dead as the workmen first think. It attacks one of the workmen killing him, unfortunately, he doesn't stay dead.  As the trouble progresses the noxious gas starts to leak out of the facility and infects the air... bringing on an extinction event.

From here on it should have been an awesome film but the Directors, Bruno Mattei (who used the name Vincent Dawn) - this action speaks volumes - and Claudio Fragasso (who also co-wrote the story with Jose Maria Cunilles) decided to go an entirely different route than you would ever imagine.

The viewer is then subjected to some really bad over-the-top acting (more than usual for an Italian horror) as we are introduced to a crack army assault team who stop a siege at an embassy.  This ten minutes is a waste of time as it's really bad and is only there to let the audience know their next mission is in New Guinea.

It appears the location was only introduced into the story so the director could hop onto the tribe and animal cruelty bandwagon, as they weave stock film of death rituals into the movie. Once again, these are not actually required and are not relevant to the film.  However, it does mean the lead lady can get her boobs out and they are nice boobs.

Another handicap is the speed of the Zombies, these are your old-time shambling dead. Even Richard Briars on a Zimmer-frame could out run these stiffs (Cockney's V's Zombies).  It's even played up in the film.  Even the zombie make-up is poor most are just covered in light blue powder and any other embellishments are large, bulky, and unrealistic.

The twist at the end is a nice one and again if they hadn't gone the wrong direction with the story then, it could have been an outstanding Zombie movie.

I wouldn't recommend this one to anybody as there are much better Zombie flicks about, my favourite being Return Of The Living Dead... "Brains... We Need More BRAINS!!!"

Video Nasty - Anthropophagous

Anthropophagous

(1980)

AKA The Beast

AKA The Savage Island

AKA Antropophagus

Filmirage / Produzioni Cinematografiche Massaccesi (PCM) International : Film Ventures International / 88 Films / Cinefear

7 / 10

I originally watched this on SKY a few years back and I enjoyed it then as I did this time around.

That's right I said I enjoyed it and judging by low scores on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, I think I'm in the minority.

The worst thing about this film is the soundtrack.  To say it's dreadful would be doing an injustice to the term understatement.  There are a couple of scenes where the music sets the mood perfectly... but it is only a couple.  The rest of the time the audience is assailed with a manic Wurlitzer pianist - I actually had a vision of an old time theatre (back in the silent movie days) and a man, half-crossed between The Phantom Of The Opera and The Joker, going insane of the ebony and ivories... all it lacked was a maniacal laugh.

Apart from that what the writers Joe D'Amato (Director) and George Eastman (Actor) give the audience is a new take on both the Cannibal and Zombie legends, by giving you Nikos Karamanlis, a man turned beast who is something other than alive and with a penchant for human flesh.  He acquired this evil and unnatural taste after he and his family were shipwrecked... when you're miles from anywhere and starving you have to eat.

This is so much better than his follow on movie Absurd, which also fell foul of the dreaded Video Nasty title and banning.

The acting is above average.  Tisa Farrow (Mia Farrow's sister) who gave a well-disposed portrayal of Julie, a student on her way to a Greek island and summer job.  Along with Saverio Vallone who gives an affable portrayal of Andy, the unheralded leader of the group, these two hold the film together.  Even the mostly silent Eastman as The Beast does a decent job of being menacing and actually uses his size and facial features to add power and unease (wish he'd done the same in Absurd)

For the time the effects are more than passable, the only let down is Eastman's "Beast" face as it looks like somebody has spilt cold porridge over him.  Most of the dead look nasty enough, with decaying skin and maggots writhing in eye sockets.  The scene with the rats would have looked more realistic had they not covered a skeleton in spam... they could have added more blood to disguise the fact - go Herschell-Lewis on them.

One thing that did impress me is most of the scenes are shot in daylight and D'Amato still builds a sense of tension and unease.  The scene where Arnold is looking for his pregnant wife Maggie and stumbles into a clearing by a ruinated abbey sent a shiver down my spine.  You can actually feel something watching him.

There is more to this film than I originally thought and I would recommend it to all horror fans who haven't seen it yet.  And I will be watching this again in the future.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Anthropophagous

Video Nasty - Inferno: The Second Mother

Inferno - The Second Mother

(1980)

Produzioni Intersound : Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation / Anchor Bay Entertainment / Arrow Film Distributors

8.25 / 10

In my opinion, this was wrongly given a video nasty label as it towers above the rest in that dubious genre.  Once again Argento gives the audience a beautifully shot horror movie, filled with elegant locations, bewitching choreographed death scenes, and mood lighting to chill the bones.

This time the story is larger than the first chapter as it encompasses both Rome and New York.  We are no longer confined to just one building with its tenants and this gives Argento more scope to show how widespread the occult has become and to strengthen the story.  We are shown a hidden room in a cellar.  This is an ingenious set in the movie as the room is flooded, so our heroine has to dive in when she loses a bracelet through a whole in the floor. With the use of music, camera angles, and shots through the murky water he creates a nice uneasiness.

This is one of many excellent scenes that give the movie its strength.  The mysterious Alchemist in the labyrinths of a library.  The inexplicable beautiful woman, in a Rome lecture class, with her cat.  Kazanian, the bookstore owner, in Central Park.

It's also great to hear Keith Emerson, of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, again as he composed some of the music for the soundtrack.

As with Suspiria, it's the story that is the comedown of the movie.  For it too, suffers from being muddled and confusing, though not to the extent of Suspiria.  But it's not enough to distract from the story and not reason enough to not watch the film.

This is better than Suspiria and builds on the mythos of the witches, their powers, and their histories.  Argento has shaped the movie to be a "stand alone", so it doesn't matter if you've watched the first movie or not.

I would recommend this film, not just to horror fans, but to film buffs in general, as Dario Argento, in this period was trying something new in the genre, which hasn't really been seen since.  This is a movie to enjoy.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Inferno

Video Nasty - The Boogey Man

The Boogey Man

(1980)

The Jerry Gross Organisation : Anchor Bay Entertainment / 88 Films

4.25 / 10

This another one of those movies that make me feel sad as it could have been so much better had the writer, director and producer, Ulli Lommel, spent a little more time on it.  I can say this in fairness as the story is pretty sound and there are some good original bits in the movie.  Though what you get is a lacklustre movie which steals shots and feeling from other movies to ignite the viewers fear.  The opening panning shot to the front of the house is very reminiscent of John Carpenter and Halloween, even the soundtrack is very similar to Carpenter's style, as well as the Phantasm movies.  The two protagonists of the film move in with their aunt and uncle on their farm... the farmhouse looks to have had the same architect as the Amityville house and in the end sequence all the windows glow red.

These rip-offs scream of laziness.  However, I liked the idea of a killer trapped in a mirror until the mirror is smashed and his soul is released to kill again.  I think Lommel missed a major scene here.  Instead of starting the film with the mother and her lover getting frisky as the kids spied on them.  He should have started with the lover killing somebody on the way to his rendezvous with the mother.  This would have added a depth to the "killer" character.  As it is he's just a man wearing a stocking over his head... not really boogey man material... would he really go on a killing spree?  This actually weakens the story as it's hard to believe.

As for the special FX, these are hit and miss and I think the budget was spent on the more gruesome FX, though on the whole, they're more than passable.  I particularly like the bathroom death sequence, especially the death by scissors, and the teenagers "kiss of death" in the mustang.

The direction, for the most part, is okay.  Lommel does create tension at times, there could have been more of it though.  Some are obvious so it doesn't really work, like when Will is in the barn as a pitchfork gets ready to impale him.  The pitchfork raises and hangs in the air for an eternity before his sister Lacey arrives to save him.  If this had been trimmed down it would have worked much better, it's just too long.

As for the acting... well, the best actors are the three kids who are in the original house where the murder took place.  They actually do a good portrayal of brother and sisters.  Their interaction is spot-on, each has their own life but still interact with each other.  They're in the movie for only a few minutes, though this section is the best in the whole film.

Lacey is portrayed by Suzanna Love (who also part scripted the screenplay), who takes woodenness to a new level - Suzanna Love Oak.  The only person worse than her is the guy playing her brother, Will, Nicholas Love.  For most of the movie he's mute, a psychological reaction to the murder, so you would think he would act using his body and facial expressions...  Don't be silly.  At times it looks like he's taken root.  His stand-in could have been a store mannequin.

The other actors are average and really try to do their best with speeches, which at times, are awkward and unconvincing.  Even John Carradine cannot add any credence to this film.

This is a movie for die hard horror fans.  I watch films like this to find the hidden treasure in a quagmire of rubbish.  It could be a good actor, an outstanding scene, or an effect that is well thought out and executed.  Sometimes there's no treasure... but most of the time, like this film, there a couple of things.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - The Boogey Man