**Taking a break from posting reviews. Fresh posts in November 2025!

  I will be taking a break from posting film reviews so I can work on other projects. Thanks for reading and see you in November 2025!

SNOWMANIAC (2023)

 

(Director/screenwriter/editor/co-star: H. Owen Richardson)

Review

Two drunk guys, Robert and Eric, are outside a house in what seems to be the middle of a wind- or freeway-loud nowhere late at night. While one of them uses the telephone booth to call a cab, the other smokes a cigarette. The one using the telephone booth makes his call, steps out of the phone booth, and sees his friend is gone, somewhere in the oh-so-dark night (smoker is being killed by a knife-wielding person wearing a snowman mask). When the telephone rings—a callback from the cab company, likely—the Snowmaniac turns his attention to the phone guy.

Posted on Youtube and viewable for free, the nine-minute SNOWMANIAC feels like a proof-of-concept short film. While it runs like a series of scenes (not a story), it’s an effective, well-shot stalk-and-slay work, from its use of spare, spooky music to its muddy-dark background night (courtesy of cinematographer/co-producer Kai Hall), which makes it almost feel like a 1970s flick. The sound effects are crisp and ickalicious (e.g., when smoking guy’s tongue is ripped off the road sign), the acting is solid for its concept, and its creepy piano tune is a mood-effective capper for SNOWMANIAC.

H. Owen Richardson, who also wrote, directed, edited and co-produced it, played Robert. Ryan Skates played Eric. Tom Rockell played the Snowmaniac.

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4: THE INITIATION (1990)

 

(Director: Brian Yuzna. Screenwriters: Zeph E. Daniel, Richard N. Gladstein, and Arthur Gorson)

Review

After a woman’s building-leap, spontaneous combustion death, an aspiring reporter/classified ads editor Kim Levitt (played by Neith Hunter) investigates the story despite her dismissive male boss, Eli (Reggie Bannister, PHANTASM, 1979) and equally dismissive male colleagues at the LA Eye—one of these colleagues is her easy-going boyfriend, Hank (Tom Hinkley, WATCHERS II, 1990).

Kim’s investigation drives her to seek out a book on spontaneous combustion. She looks for it at a feminist bookstore (Bring Down the Moon) in the building from which the flaming woman leapt. While purchasing a book on the subject, she meets Fima (Maud Adams, THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, 1974), owner of the establishment, who gives Kim a book, Initiation of the Virgin Goddess by J.B. Beattie, and invites Kim to a feminist-group picnic the following day.

Bizarre stuff happens to, and around, Kim. A filthy, oddly shy, and seemingly simple street guy (Ricky) follows her up to the roof and tries to hand her a hand-plus sized squirming larva. Cockroaches, in large numbers, appear in her apartment. She sees disturbing faces in everyday places (simulacrum). Her dreams and perceptions become life-threatening. All the while, she’s being stalked by Fima and her fellow female cultists who somehow are linked to Lilith, Adam’s rebellious ex-wife who is linked to “things that crawl.” It’s clear that Kim is changing somehow, and the cult has a lot to do with it.

While SILENT 4’s set-up isn’t hard to figure out, it’s a well-made (especially for a low budget direct-to-video film). The actors range from solid to excellent (especially Neith Hunter and Clint Howard, who plays the deranged but somehow tender Ricky), Richard Band’s mood-effective score is perfect, and Peter Teschner’s editing keeps SILENT 4 sharp and tight. Screaming Mad George (and FX company)’s disturbing and icky FX suit the visual-highlight moments of SILENT 4’s already unsettling milieu, all centered around Kim’s evolution, and maybe more—if she can break free of those counting on her sacrificing herself for them.

SILENT 4, a standalone film in the SILENT franchise, is worth watching if you don’t require a big budget to be entertained, and can appreciate an excellent, theme-ambitious cast and crew making the most of out of what little they have to work with, including often icky effects.

 Followed by the standalone SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOY MAKER (1991).

Deep(er) filmic dive

Brian Yuzna, one of the story sources for SILENT 4, has said that he was “not interested” in focusing on Christmas in SILENT 4, hence its few scenes highlighting the holiday season. Yuzna co-produced its sequel a year later and tried to make up for it by mandating that Christmas should be central to SILENT 5’s storyline.

 

According to IMDb, SILENT 4’s premise was going to be used for the third entry in the SILENT franchise but was rejected by the third entry’s filmmakers.

 

In one scene, scenes from SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 3: BETTER WATCH OUT! (1989) are broadcast on an onscreen television.

 

Neith Hunter (who played Kim Levitt in SILENT 4) played a character named Kim in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOY MAKER, 1991). Clint Howard, who played Ricky in SILENT 4, played a character named Ricky in SILENT 5. Conan Yuzna, real-life son of Brian Yuzna, played Lonnie (Hank’s younger brother) in SILENT 4—he also played a character named Lonnie in SILENT 5.

According to Brian Yuzna, in a commentary track for a Blu-Ray version of SILENT 4, Yuzna said these recurring-name characters may or may not be the same characters, that he and fellow SILENT 4 and 5 filmmakers were “playing around” with names between the two films. . . He didn’t mention if Howard’s character (Ricky) is a call-back name to Ricky Chapman, younger brother of killer-Santa Billy in the original SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984) and the killer in the first two sequels that followed.

 

According to IMDb, the call letters on a television news reporter’s microphone is UZNA, a reference to the film’s director, Brian Yuzna.

 

The giant cockroach seen in Kim’s apartment is a reference to Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. The long nose that Ricky wears during Kim’s ritual scene is a reference to Stanley Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971).

 

According to Brian Yuzna, his son (Conan), who appears in the film as Lonnie, isn’t fond of mentioning/promoting his appearances in this film and SILENT 5. Yuzna mentioned this in his commentary track for a Blu-Ray version of SILENT 4.

THE ADVENT CALENDAR (2021)

 

(aka LE CALENDRIER. Shudder Original film. Director/screenwriter: Patrick Ridremont.)

 

Review

On December 3, 2020, paraplegic ex-dancer Eva Roussel (Eugénie Derouand) gets a surprise birthday visit from her close friend, Sophie (Honorine Magnier), who flew in from Germany to give her an old, pagan-Christian ornate, wooden German advent calendar she purchased from a “Munich Xmas market”. The back of the calendar reads: “Dump it and I’ll kill you.”

 

When Eva notes that it’s a “grim” statement, Sophie, shrugging, replies, “Germans are grim.” Eva opens the first date-door and eats the candy despite this and its three rules:

“Rule number 1. The calendar contains candy. If you eat one, eat them all. Or I’ll kill you.

“Rule number 2. Respect all rules until you open the last door. Or I’ll kill you.

“Rule number 3. Dump it and I’ll kill you.”

Crazy violent things happen at a rapid pace after she eats the first four candies (and continues doing so). Her father (played by an excellent Jean-François Garreud), who has Alzheimer’s and hasn’t spoken to her in some time, calls her and wishes her a happy birthday. An investor creep (Boris, played by Cyril Garnier) who aggressively hits on her has a car accident, not entirely unlike the car accident that made her a paraplegic—except he's dead in a horrible way. Other odd events, some good, follow. Many of these events are terrifying and dangerous for her and those around her, including her nurse boyfriend, William (Clément Olivieri).

This fast-paced, supernatural horror flick is an entertaining and an all-around sturdy movie, with its good acting, a strong script and ending, and an offbeat storyline. Animal lovers may cringe at one of its parts, although there’s no actual onscreen violence (or harm to the animal)—it’s all implied. This is a highly recommended French work, different than the usual Xmas terror fare.

MRS. CLAUS (2018)

 

(aka STIRRING. Director/screenwriter: Troy Escamilla)

 

Review

A Delta Sigma Sigma pledge sister, Angela Werner (Mel Heflin), is cruelly hazed by a sorority president, Amber (Kaylee Williams), and her clique. Shortly after that, the humiliated pledge kills the cruel sorority President and hangs herself.

A decade later, Amber’s sweet-natured sister (Danielle, played by Hailey Strader) is joining the same sorority, when the sorority sisters receive threatening Xmas-themed poems about “sluts.” People get systemically killed (garroted, stabbed, a large candy cane shoved down a guy’s throat, etc.) by someone dressed up like Mrs. Claus, complete with a mask.

It all comes down to a battle between Danielle (with some help) and the vicious Mrs. Claus. There’s a character-based twist (not entirely shocking but worthwhile). Its almost-solid finish is ruined by spot-it-from-a-mile-away sequel-friendly ending.

The good: Scream Queen Brinke Stevens (THE SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, 1982) is fun as Officer Julie Cornell, as is Helene Uddy (MY BLOODY VALENTINE, 1981; and THE DEAD ZONE, 1983) as Mrs. Werner. Kaylee Williams is also convincing as cruel Delta Sigma Sigma president Amber. The kill scenes are varied, effective (considering its micro-budget), gory and creative—credit their convincing bloodiness to makeup/special effects artist Heather Benson, who’s gone on to work on A-list films like KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (2023). Mark D’Errico’s soundtrack is effective in many of its key scenes (e.g., a slow piano song with eerie female vocals).

Ultimately, CLAUS is a typical low budget slasher film with too much lag time between plot points, some seriously bad acting, and a too-strict adherence to horror clichés─despite its drawbacks, it’s not the worst Xmas body count film I’ve seen, though I’ll likely not watch it again.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

Kaylee Williams also appeared with Brinke Stevens in BENEATH THE OLD DARK HOUSE (2022; director/screenwriter: Matt Cloude).

THE INFERNAL CAULDRON (1903)

 

(original French title: LE CHAUDON INFERNAL; American title: THE INFERNAL CALDRON AND THE PHANTASMAL VAPORS; U.K. title: THE INFERNAL CAULDRON. Director/screenwriter/producer/star: Georges Méliès)

 

Review

In this two-minute, G-rated silent short, two excitable, almost cartoonish devils stuff three humans into the titular flaming cauldron so that they can summon their sacrifices’ ghostly essences. While there’s not much storyline, the visual aspects, especially for a brief 1903 work, are amazing— Méliès, INFERNAL’s only credited player, appears as one of the bluish-green, shirtless devils (Belphegor, according to Méliès’s Star Film Company); the struggling souls are clad are soft pink, with other soft colors (yellow, orangish brass) sprinkled in the background. All of this was hand-colored by the prolific Méliès, a French illusionist and director whose talents innovated filmmaking with his (according to Méliès’s IMDb page) “use of special effects, popularizing such techniques as substitution splices, multiple exposures, time-lapse photography, dissolves and hand-painted color”, pyrotechnics, soft focus, and storyboards. Méliès is especially famous for his 1902 film A TRIP TO THE MOON.

Great two-minute thrill, worth your time.

KRISTY (2014)

 

(Director: Oliver “Olly” Blackburn. Screenwriter: Anthony Jaswinski.)

Review

KRISTY opens with several hoodie-wearing people leaving a female corpse, Heather Price (listed as “Dead Girl” on IMDb), in a gray-morning field while a newscast is heard telling how she’s been missing for three days.

Cut to working-class college student Justine Wells (Haley Bennett) getting ready to spend her Thanksgiving break in her dorm with her roommate Nicole (Erica Ash). Nicole flakes on her “stay-behind” (as Wayne, a college security guard calls it) with Justine when her dad surprises her with a trip to Aspen.

When Justine, alone, goes to a nearby minimart for late night food, she’s in-store stalked by a creepy young woman wearing sunglasses and a hoodie. Justine leaves the store after the creepy woman leaves, only to encounter her driving a muscle car on the road. Justine manages to lose her, makes it back to her dorm and takes a nap, thinking everything is okay despite the “weird” (her word) encounter with the pierced-lip, creepy woman (Violet, played by Ashley Greene). Everything is not okay, because she’s been followed by not one, but several hoodie-wearing strangers, and as her terrorizers up their assault tactics, it looks like Justine—although a capable fighter—might not survive the night.

KRISTY is a good, steady-build slasher film, with effective foreshadowing, solid acting, a few solid twists (the killers are not random), and equally effective cinematography (credit Crille Forsberg) and consistent, mostly entertaining flight-and-fight pacing (editor: Jeff Betancourt, THE GRUDGE, 2004)—aside from a few instances when Justine should end her would-be killers instead of running. KRISTY isn’t memorable, but it’s well-shot, well-written and tightly edited, a relatively non-gory flick that provides some welcome T-Day thrills and chills.

 

KRISTY’s other notable cast members include:

James Ransone (SINISTER, 2012) as Scott, Justine’s friend and would-be protector;

Chelsea Bruland, a stunt woman in quite a few films (including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 2014) as Heather Price, or “Dead Girl” (as IMDb lists her role);

and

Mathew St. Patrick (SIX FEET UNDER, 2001-2005) as Wayne, a  night-shift security guard in Justine’s dorm.

**Taking a break from posting reviews. Fresh posts in November 2023!

 I will be taking a break from posting film reviews so I can work on other projects. Thanks for reading and see you in November 2023!

KNOCK KNOCK (2018)

 

(Director/screenwriter: Paul Catalanotto)

Review

In this six-minute horror short, a woman (Christine Tonry, ANTI-VAXXER, 2021), excited and getting ready for a date, is stalked by a stealthy, hard-to-track faint knock in her house. She follows the intermittent and spooky knocking throughout it, and you know it’s not likely to end well for her.

KNOCK is an all-around solid, every-shot-counts, suspenseful short, with—aside from the woman not grabbing any kind of weapon—a promising premise, and a worthwhile not-quite-a-twist ending. Hamp Overton’s (SACRILEGE, 2017) cinematography is impressive, especially considering KNOCK’s limited budget, and its sound department (John Charles, Mike Gilbert, and Qing Yu) maintains an unsettling feel throughout. This feels like a “proof of concept” work, one worth watching.

ATTACHMENT (2022)

 

(Shudder Original/streaming film. Director/screenwriter: Gabril Bier Gislason)

 

Review

Danish actress, Maja (Josephine Park), meets Jewish academic (Leah, played by Ellie Kendrick) in a bookstore, and they quickly fall in love. When Leah, who has strange seizures, returns to her mother’s home, Maja goes with her. Chana, Leah’s mother, is a strict practitioner of Jewish black magick. Furthermore, the serious older woman doesn’t seem to like Maja, driving her to figure out the changes in Leah’s personality, her relationship with her rigid mother, and the Kabbalah-related objects hidden around Chana’s house.

If you view director Gislason’s feature debut for what it comes off as—a barely R-rated made-for-television, initially fun and romantic drama with occasional PG-13 horror moments—it might be a good viewing choice for you. If you’re one of those sensitive souls who sincerely use the phrase “elevated horror” and doesn’t get the joke (all horror work has inherent subtext, it’s not meant to be worn as a fan-badge of arrogance and/or ignorance), ATTACHMENT could easily be your vaguely, occasionally horrific check-it-out flick as well.

If you’re an Old School/traditional horror fan looking for a well-edited film that effectively, continually builds up to a satisfying, suspenseful horror-flick ending, you might want to skip it. ATTACHMENT‘s first twenty or thirty minutes are promising, relatively fast-paced, a steady-build work. Then it hits a drawn-out, glacial-paced thirty or so minutes, where Maja, initially smart, becomes so love-dumb and gormless that she strains believability. By the time all is spoon-fed, er, revealed to her, it’s a moot point—experienced horror viewers will likely have sussed out the film’s lacking-in-suspense storyline and upcoming shots early on and, like me, just wanted the movie over with already.

On paper, I see where ATTACHMENT might’ve worked as an hourlong television/streaming horror show episode. It builds like an unedited novella (one can almost see which scenes would be dramatic chapter endings), but as a feature. . . Gabril Bier Gislason, his cast and crew are clearly able to put out part of a good movie. It’s a shame that its snail-crawl middle-to-end section relies on its lead (Maja) being excessively dumb, even for someone newly in love, and scenes recycling (without building on) previously established plot points.

 

Standout actors include:

Sofie Gråbøl (THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, 2018) as Chana, Leah’s intense, black magick-practicing mother;

David Dencik (DEPARTMENT Q: THE ABSENT ONE, 2014) as Lev, a bookstore owner and Ellie’s uncle.

 

If you don’t like gore, suspense, violence, good editing, or anything darker than weak milk chocolate in your movies, ATTACHMENT could easily be your cinematic kick for an hour and forty-five minutes. If you’re not, feel free to skip it.

SWEET SIXTEEN (1983)

(Director: Dmitri Sotirakis, billed as Jim Sotos. Screenwriter: Erwin Goldman.)

Review

In a small Texas town, the recently arrived fifteen-year-old Melissa Morgan (Aleisa Shirley, her cinematic debut) is flirty, lonely, and lusted after by many of her male peers and a few of the older men. This isn’t much of a problem until that the last guy she went out with (Johnny Franklin) is found stabbed to death the next morning. The most likely suspect is a local Native American bad ass, Jason Longshadow (Don Shanks, HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS, 1989), who’d almost gotten into a bar fight with aggressively racist Johnny, his older brother Billy, and one of Johnny’s friends the same night Johnny was murdered.

Easy-going Sheriff Dan Burke (Bo Hopkins, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 2: TEXAS BLOOD MONEY, 1999) begins investigating the crime even as the violent Billy Franklin, riling up local ire, looks for Jason Longshadow. More murders happen, all of them centered around Melissa, culminating in a bloody, deadly showdown that’ll likely be talked about in that town for decades.

More a well-written drama with an almost Seventies feel than a slasher film, SWEET is a solid, if sometimes oddball work. Slash-and-stab scenes occasionally punctuate the steady-build drama, with full-frontal female nudity (Aleisha Shirley), mostly solid acting, effective foreshadowing, a shoehorned and character-unlikely shock ending, and scenes that recall better movies (FRIDAY THE 13^th, 1980, and HALLOWEEN, 1978, e.g., the shot where Tommy Doyle, holding a pumpkin and being bullied, is watched by Michael Myers). And if you’re a fan of cheesy Eighties ballads, Joel Wertman and Mark Wertman’s “Melissa’s Theme” (which plays during certain Melissa-focused shots. . . foreshadowing?) might be your briefly heard favorite new tune.

 

Other actors (beside Bo Hopkins and Don Shanks) who stand out:

Dana Kimmell (FRIDAY THE 13^th PART 3, 1982) as Marci Burke, Sheriff Dan Burke’s murder mystery-reading teenage daughter;

Steve Antin (THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN, 1982) as Hank Burke, Sheriff Dan Burke’s teenage son;

Patrick Macnee (THE HOWLING, 1981) as Dr. John Morgan, Melissa’s protective, archeologist father;

Susan Strasberg (BLOODY BIRTHDAY, 1981) as Joanne Morgan (née Platt), Melissa’s protective mother;

Don Stroud (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, 1979) as Billy Franklin;

Logan Clark (NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN, 1972) as Jimmy;

and

Michael Pataki (GRADUATION DAY, 1981) as George Martin, a shady politician.

You might enjoy SWEET if you’re looking for a solid (sort of) murder mystery with occasional, slasherific kill scenes. Anyone wanting an edgy thriller should seek something else.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

According to IMDb: Leslie Nielsen (PROM NIGHT, 1980) was originally set to play Dr. John Morgan, Melissa’s father, but bowed out because of scheduling conflicts.

QUEEN OF BLOOD (1966)

 

(a.k.a. PLANET OF BLOOD. Director/co-screenwriter: Curtis Harrington. Based on Mikhail Karykov and Otar Koberidze’s story/film MECHTE NAVSTRECHU.)

 

Review

1990. Ambassadors of a mysterious alien race, enroute to Earth to establish relations with humans, crash-land on Mars. On Earth, the International Institute of Space Technology, created to “explore” Mars and Venus, sends a rescue mission for the aliens, with whom communications are hazy at best (along with their general appearance).

The crew of the Oceano are on their way to Mars when multiple complications occur, starting with a sunburst, which damages the Oceano’s system. Upon reaching Mars, the crew members find a lone survivor (a green-skinned, exotic-looking, and mute Alien Queen (her character end-credited as “?”, played by Florence Marly, DOCTOR DEATH: SEEKER OF SOULS, 1973). Several men, especially Paul Grant (Dennis Hopper, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE PART 2, 1986), are dreamily, romantically drawn to her. After she drains one of her admirers of blood (offscreen), killing him, the remaining crew members decide to restrain, not kill her, because she’s a scientific specimen. . . an obviously bad decision, an opinion voiced by alarmed crew member Allan Brenner (John Saxon, TENEBRAE, 1982), who wants to destroy her.

QUEEN, with a fun, familiar twist or two, is a fast- and tightly paced (for its time) low budget movie, with an all-around solid cast and crew. Its look is sumptuous in an often color-drenched B-movie way (opening with John Cline’s exotic, science fiction-monstrous “title” paintings and stock spooky-theremin music by Ronald Stein, billed as Leonard Moran—Moran’s credits include SPIDER BABY, OR THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD, 1967). QUEEN’s look is further augmented (and made more atmospheric) by impressive special effects lifted from bigger budgeted and uncredited Russian films, BATTLE BEYOND THE SUN, 1959, and MECHTE NAVSTRECHU, 1963), fitting because QUEEN is a remake of MECHTE, English translation DREAM TOGETHER. (MECHTE was also titled DREAM COME TRUE in some countries.)

 

QUEEN’s other notable players and behind-the-scenes crew include:

Basil Rathbone (SON OF FRANKENSTEIN, 1939) as Dr. Farraday, head of the International Institute of Space Technology;

Judi Meredith (THE NIGHT WALKER, 1964) as Laura James, scientist and Allan Brenner’s romantic interest;

Don Eitner (KRONOS, 1957) as Tony Barrata, one of the crew members;

Forrest J. Ackerman (THE HOWLING, 1981, and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II, 1988) as Dr. Farraday’s assistant (“minus his trademark glasses”, according to IMDb’s QUEEN OF BLOOD “Trivia” page). Ackeman, then-editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, holds something in the movie’s last shot;

Virgil Frye (GARDEN OF THE DEAD, 1972) as “Control Panel” (Frye’s first feature);

Gary Crutcher (GIANT FROM THE UNKNOWN, 1958) as an uncredited spaceship crew member;

Leon Smith (VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET, 1965, also co-directed by Curtis Harrington) was VOYAGE and QUEEN’s set designer, then billed as "set decorator".

and

Vilis Lapenieks (VOYAGE TO THE PREHISTORIC PLANET, 1965) was VOYAGE and QUEEN’s cinematographer.

QUEEN might be worth your time if you appreciate its above-noted qualities, particularly if you’re a fan of MARS ATTACKS! (1996; director: Tim Burton) and ALIEN (1979; director: Ridley Scott), the latter of which shares a similar, if darker, more primal, and feminist storyline.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

According to IMDb: though Ronald Stein’s spooky theremin music sounds like it’s mixed with Louis Barron and Bebe Barron’s FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) “tonalities” it’s not.

Florence Marly reprised her role of “?” (her character’s end-credit in QUEEN) in a six-minute, 16mm sequel, SPACE BOY (1973). In SPACE BOY, her character is named Velarna, and Marly is billed as Florence Marly von Wurmbrand.

QUEEN’s running time is an hour and eighteen minutes, a good choice if you’re looking for a shorter movie to watch.

SUBSPECIES (1991)

 

(Director: Ted Nicolaou. Screenwriters: Jackson Barr and David Pabian, based on Charles Band’s idea.)

 

Review

In fictional Prejnar, Romania, Radu Vladislas, monstrous offspring of a twisted sorceress and a briefly ensorcelled King Vladislas, returns home and kills his elderly father for the Bloodstone, a mystical gem that contains the blood of saints—a powerful, addictive elixir.

Radu’s vampiric half-brother (Stefan, played by Michael Watson), arrives and finds his father dead. He, good, kind, and half-human, seeks to avenge his father’s death, and poses as a college student studying local “nocturnal creatures”.

Stefan is not the only new arrival in Prejnar. Three medieval-history-studying college students—Romanian native Mara (Irina Movila), free-spirited Lillian, and bookish and especially resourceful Michelle—show up and stay at a local fort near Castle Vladislas, where Radu lurks.  

When Lillian takes to her bed with “anemia” after secretly being visited by Radu, the blood-fueled sibling conflict between sensitive Stefan and his ruthless, more virile brother (as well as his devilish, pint-sized minions) ratchets into full-blown war, with all around them—including local groundskeeper Karl (Ivan J. Rado, PUPPET MASTER II, 1990)—caught up in their designs.

SUBSPECIES has an authentic Romanian feel, strong writing (a lot of its dialogue comprised of interesting Romanian bloodsucker mythology and real-life history), tight editing (credit Bert Glatstein and William Young), and great cinematography (Vlad Paunescu, whose work adds to the realistic feel of SUBSPECIES) and striking, spooky scenes. The rest of the behind-the-scenes crew nailed it as well. When combined with the strong acting of its cast, particularly Anders Hove’s shadowy, hiss-whispery Radu, all of this makes SUBSPECIES a fun, well-made take on bloodsucker tropes, one worth checking out. 

SUBSPECIES‘s other noteworthy actors include:

Angus Scrimm (PHANTASM, 1979) as the visibly ailing, spirited King Vladislas;

Michelle McBride (THE MASK OF RED DEATH, 1989) as just-do-it Lillian;

Laura Mae Tate (DEAD SPACE, 1991) as the studious Michelle, whose mutual attraction to Stefan might save them.

Followed by four sequels and a spin-off movie, its first sequel BLOODSTONE: SUBSPECIES II (1993).

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

SUBSPECIES is the first American movie to be shot in post-Communist Bucharest, Romania (called Prejnar in the film).

According to IMDb’s Trivia page, Radu’s character was inspired by Radu the Handsome, real-life sibling of Vlad the Impaler.

In Justin Beahm’s article “From TerrorVision to Subspecies: Ted Nicolaou Interviewed (Part One)” (Scream magazine, issue 56, September/October 2019), Nicolaou said that Michael Watson (who played Stefan Vladislas) recommended his GENERAL HOSPITAL co-star Anders Hove to play Radu, and Full Moon head/producer Charles Dance almost immediately cast Hove after meeting him.

Nicolaou also mentioned how Laura Tate (SUBSPECIES’s Michelle) “left the shoot two weeks” before it was completed, after she slept-walked into Nicolaou’s hotel room where she woke and freaked out. Tate’s remaining scenes were shot with a double.

Also noted in Beahm’s article: Nicolaou was a boom operator/sound guy on Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974). Nicolaou owned the van that Sally and her friends traveled in.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972)

 

(Director: Freddie Francis. Screenwriters: Milton Subotsky, Al Feldstein, and Johnny Craig, “based on stories written by Al Feldstein, Johnny Craig and Bill Gaines, originally published in the Comic Magazines Tales From the Crypt[, The Haunt of Fear] and The Vault of Horror by Bill Gaines” [IMDb].)

 

Review

In this five-story horror anthology film put out by Amicus Productions, a group of catacombs-exploring tourists wander into a room where a commanding, hooded Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson, THE GHOUL, 1933) tells his reluctant, disturbed listeners possible demises that face them.

The first tale he tells, “. . . And All Through the House,” set in a Christmastime, garishly decorated house, shows Joanne Clayton (Joan Collins, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS, 1977) killing her husband (played by Martin Boddey) while her young, gone-to-bed daughter, Carol (Chloe Franks) eagerly awaits Santa Claus’s arrival. Meanwhile, on the radio, news about a Santa suit-wearing maniac on the loose, is heard—an escape that will impact the quality of Joanne and Carol’s holiday celebration.

“. . . And All” originally appeared in the February-March 1954 issue of The Vault of Horror (#35).

 

“Reflection of Death” concerns Carl Maitland (Ian Hendry, DAMIEN: OMEN II, 1978), a businessman leaving his family for his younger secretary, Susan Blake (Angela Grant), when they’re involved in a serious car accident. Upon coming to—he miraculously survived the crash—he stumbles home, where stranger fears await him.

“Reflection” originally appeared in the April-May 1951 issue of Tales from the Crypt (#23).

 

In the Crypt Keeper’s third story, “Poetic Justice”, a snob, James Elliot (Robin Phillips) engages in a smear campaign against his kind, grieving and lower-class neighbor, Arthur Edward Grimsdyke (Peter Cushing), driving Grimsdyke into emotional dire straits. Of course, this comes to haunt Elliot later.

David Markham (BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY’S TOMB, 1971) played Edward Elliot, James’s father.

“Poetic” originally appeared in the March-April 1952 issue of The Haunt of Fear (#12).

 

“Wish You Were Here”, a rework of W.W. Jacobs’s 1902 story “The Monkey’s Paw”, concerns a couple, Enid and Ralph Jason, who are granted three wishes via a Chinese figurine, and live to regret their desires.

Richard Greene played Ralph. Barbara Murray played Enid. Roy Dotrice played Charles Gregory, the Jasons’ lawyer.

“Wish” originally appeared in the November-December 1953 issue of The Haunt of Fear (#22).

 

In “Blind Alleys”, an administrator for a home for blind people (Major William Rogers, played by Nigel Patrick) indulges in a luxurious lifestyle while neglecting and terrorizing his clients. When one of them dies, another, George Carter (Patrick Magee, DIE, MONSTER, DIE!, 1965), confronts the greedy, dismissive director, leading to Rogers’s nightmarish punishment.

“Blind” originally appeared in the February-March 1955 issue of Tales from the Crypt (#46).

 

All the mini-tales (including its wraparound) are entertaining, some better than others—standout segments are “. . . And All” (with its eye-popping, Christmas-colored hues and cherry-red blood, and Joan Collins’s nasty-then-desperate characterization), “Poetic Justice” (with its incisive viciousness and a great performance by Peter Cushing), and the nightmarishly creative comeuppance of  “Blind Alleys” (and a memorable performance by the always compelling Patrick Magee).

TALES, tightly edited (hello, Teddy Darvas), and one of cinematographer-turned-director Freddie Francis’s better films, is often shot in grim, dark color tones (credit Norman Warwick). It’s a mostly excellent film, its atmospheric opening scenes, shot in Highgate Cemetery, Swain’s Lane, Highgate, England, set the tone for the film whilst Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Toccata & Fugue in D Minor” plays at key moments. TALES’s PG rating is due to its lack of onscreen violence and brief instances of obviously fake blood (“. . . And All”, “Poetic Justice” and “Blind“)—that said, its sometimes nasty characters and resolutions, while they further sell TALE‘s often potent horror, might give some parents pause in letting their younger kids see this.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

According to IMDb. . .

Stephen King and George A. Romero’s 1982 film CREEPSHOW originated in their desire to remake TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972).

Peter Cushing took a cut in pay to act in TALES.

 

The Jasons’ mansion in “Wish You Were Here” was also a shooting location in THE OMEN (1976, the Thorns’ mansion).

 

In “Wish You Were Here”, the scene where Ralph Jason is pursued by a motorcycle was shot on the Alpine Circuit at Milbrook test track—also used in Gordon Hessler’s 1970 hybrid terror flick SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN (in the Michael Gothard being chased by cops scene).

 

“Blind Alleys” was remade as an episode of the 1989-1996 HBO series,TALES FROM THE CRYPT episode, “Revenge is the Nuts” (Season 6 episode 5, original air date: November 16, 1994).

 

Peter Cushing and Joan Collins, who share no scenes in TALES, co-starred in FEAR IN THE NIGHT (1972).